J t O: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone?
by Midna3452
Summary: J t O stands for "Journey to Ouran." Crossover between Soul Eater, Ouran, and FMA animes. Crona, Ed, and Al all end up at Ouran to search for a person known as the "pure soul" who can create the philosopher's stone. Full Summary inside. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Full Summary: Crona is sent to Ouran to find a person known as the "pure soul," who can be used to create the philosopher's stone. But when Edward and Alphonse Elric show up at the school as well, things start to get a little more interesting. Bonds will be made, and bonds will be broken, and a certain Demon Swordsman will learn what really matters in the end . . .**

**A/N: Hello, everyone! This is a crossover between _Soul Eater_, _Ouran High School Host Club_, and _Fullmetal Alchemist_. I've been working on this for a long time and putting a lot of effort into it, so I hope you all enjoy it! This is just the prologue, so don't worry; the chapters are going to be much longer than this! Oh, and for the purposes of this story, Crona is a boy. I'll also let you know where in the timeline of the different anime's this story takes place after the prologue. ****Anyway, here you go!**

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**Journey to Ouran: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone?**

**Prologue**

The night was dark and still. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared along with a slight breeze, disturbing the peaceful air. Out of the cloud of smoke stepped a tall boy dressed in a black, almost floor-length dress. He shook his head to get his pink hair out of his sad eyes and stared up at the massive building in front of him.

The school was huge, with circular windows all around and a big fountain off to the left. To any other person, it might have been a beautiful sight; but to the boy, it was frightening. He bit his lip and gripped his right arm, hoping the school didn't look as menacing in the sunlight as it did in the dark. Suddenly, the boy cried out and lurched forward as a black substance seemed to shoot out of his back. It quickly formed into a creature with a huge white X across its face and bulging, white eyes.

"Crona, what the heck are you standing around for?" the creature bellowed, making the boy wince.

"Ow, Ragnarok, don't yell in my ear," Crona said, frowning. "This place is really big and scary; I don't know how to deal with it . . ."

"Well, you'd better find a way to deal with it soon, because you're gonna have to infiltrate this place starting tomorrow!" Ragnarok put his hands on either side of Crona's head and squeezed it. "You don't want to upset Lady Medusa, do you?"

"Ow! No, I don't! Stop that! Ragnarok!"

After a few more seconds of bullying, Ragnarok disappeared with a laugh. Crona looked dejectedly at the ground for a moment, before pulling out a slip of paper from his pocket that Lady Medusa had given him.

"I'm supposed to find a pure soul here in this school that's supposed to help create this thing Lady Medusa wants to make," Crona said to himself, reading the paper. "What was it called . . .? The philosopher's stone?"

He stared at the paper for a moment, before shaking his head and replacing it back in his pocket.

"Well, Ragnarok, I guess we finally get to go to school," Crona said, looking at the building again.

"Just shut up and get out of here, before someone sees you sneaking around!" Ragnarok said, forming a hand to poke Crona in the side. "If you get caught, Lady Medusa's plan'll be ruined!"

Crona's eyes widened and he quickly started to run away from the massive building, pausing only briefly to read the sign proclaiming the name of the school he was supposed to start attending tomorrow. He rounded a corner and disappeared into the night, already worrying about what his first day at Ouran Academy would be like.

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**A/N: Please tell me what you think so far; I'd love your feedback! Chapter One should be up in about two weeks!**

**Here's the timeline of where this story takes place for each character from their respective series (they're all according to the anime versions of the series, not the manga): **

**_Soul Eater_: After Crona fights Death the Kid on the boat.**

**_Ouran:_ Anytime after the Host Club meets Haruhi's dad.**

**_Fullmetal:_ Right after Ed and Al discover Lab 5 in the original anime (not _Brotherhood_).**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Wow, I actually managed to update this when I said I would . . . Anyway, enjoy Chapter 1!**

**Chapter 1**

_Early the next day in music room 3 . . ._

"Haruhi, my wonderful daughter!" an enthusiastic blonde exclaimed as a girl with short, brown hair entered the room.

"Ah! Senpai, get off me!" Haruhi yelped as Tamaki picked her up and spun her around.

""Stop terrorizing Haruhi, you pervert!"" the two orange-haired twins said, walking over to Haruhi and Tamaki. Said Host King immediately froze.

"I'm a . . . pervert?" Suddenly, he ran into a corner of the room and crouched down, drawing circles on the floor.

"Cut it out, Tamaki," Kyoya sighed, glancing up from the computer screen he had been staring at to glare at Tamaki. He shook his head and turned back to whatever he had been doing when the blonde refused to move.

"Senpai, why did you call us here before school starts anyway?" Haruhi asked, brushing the twins away as they tried to rest their arms on her shoulders.

"Ah, yes!" Tamaki exclaimed, immediately snapping back to his normal self. He was about to explain, when the door suddenly slammed open. In strode a small boy clutching a stuffed bunny in his hand, followed closely by a tall, dark-haired boy.

"Hello, Honey-Senpai! How are . . . uh-oh . . .," Tamaki trailed off when Honey turned his expression on him.

"Tamaki," Honey said quietly, his gaze murderous. "Why did you call us here so early?"

Tamaki, the twins, and even Haruhi tensed, getting ready to run.

"Um-"

"I WAS STILL SLEEPING!"

Tamaki screamed and ran as Honey started to chase him around the room. Honey quickly caught up and started smacking Tamaki with his Usa-chan.

"Uh, shouldn't we do something?" Haruhi asked the twins. They just shrugged.

""Eh Mori-Senpai will take care of it.""

Sure enough, Mori appeared, holding a plate of cake.

"Mitsukuni," he said, and his cousin paused. "Here- eat some cake."

"Ooh, cake! Yay!" Honey exclaimed, running over and grabbing the plate. He smiled and started shoveling cake into his mouth, completely forgetting his anger towards Tamaki.

"Yes, well, anyway," Tamaki said, standing up and straightening out his jacket. "Sorry to wake you up, Honey-Senpai. Now, I called you all here because I had an idea- as well as having meetings after school, I thought we could start having them _before_ school, too!"

"_What?" _everyone exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah! Well, it gets crowded after school, and the girls are getting less and less time to spend with us, so I thought we could let some of them come before school as well!"

"Tono, you're crazy!" Hikaru said.

"It's way too early!" Kaoru added.

"No, it's not!" Tamaki argued.

""Yes it is!""

Haruhi sighed as the boys started to argue, already getting tired of their antics. Soon, the subject they were bickering about changed to something completely different than what it had originally been, and Haruhi walked over to the window to try and get away from the noise. She looked down at all the students arriving at school, and then she noticed someone odd.

There was a person walking into the school that Haruhi had never seen before. From her viewpoint, she couldn't quite tell if it was a girl or just an extremely skinny boy, especially since they were wearing what looked like a dress and had dull, pink hair. However, Haruhi could tell that, whoever it was, they were very nervous; they were walking sort of hunched over, clutching their right arm, and they jumped every time someone walked close enough to accidentally brush up against them. Haruhi watched them disappear into the school before she realized that Tamaki was trying to get her attention.

"Haruhi, what do you think?" he asked. "Are cantaloupes or watermelons better?"

"What? I don't know!" she replied, giving him a look like he was crazy. "Watermelons, I guess."

"W-watermelons?" Tamaki gasped dramatically, clutching at his heart. "Oh no, my poor daughter doesn't realize that cantaloupes are so much better!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes, having no idea why Tamaki was being so dramatic. She sighed again and looked at the clock, groaning when she saw how much time she had left before the bell rang. She tried to focus on the conversation between the boys, but she couldn't seem to get the image of the strange new student out of her head until the bell rang to start class.

She wandered off to her first period, wondering if that nervous kid would be alright . . .

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_Meanwhile, in the main office . . ._

Crona entered the office nervously, jumping when the door slammed behind him. He walked up to the secretary's desk and stopped, staring at the floor.

"Well, hello there," the secretary said, smiling warmly. Crona just stared at her, his forlorn eyes wide. "Can I help you with something?"

"U-um . . . I'm a n-new student," Crona said, gripping his arm anxiously. "I-I'm supposed to see the chairman."

"Okay, what's your name?"

"Crona."

"And your last name?"

"Um . . ."

"Asudem!" Ragnarok whispered in Corona's mind. "Say it's Asudem!"

"Oh, okay . . . um, it's Asudem," Crona informed the secretary. She typed the name into her computer and scanned the files, frowning when she couldn't find Crona's name.

"Hmm, I can't seem to find you, Crona," she said.

"I-it's probably not in the s-system yet." Crona was practically shaking at this point, knowing that the secretary would see through his lie at any second.

"Well, if the chairman is expecting you, I suppose you can go in and see him." Crona blinked, surprised that she was letting him in so easily.

"Really?" he asked, and she nodded. "Oh, thank you . . ."

"His office is right through there." The secretary gestured to a nearby door. Crona quickly hurried through, not giving the secretary a second glance.

The door led to yet another huge room. Crona stared around in wonder, marveling at how high up the ceiling was.

"This whole place is so big," Crona said to himself. "I still don't really know how to deal with it . . ."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it soon enough."

Crona yelped and whipped around when he heard an unfamiliar voice behind him. He saw a man with kind eyes striding up to him, holding out his hand.

"I'm the chairman of this school," the man said. "You can call me Mister Suoh." The chairman held out his hand to Crona, but the boy just continued to hold his arm and stare at the ground shyly.

"What's your name?" Mr. Suoh asked, leaning down so he was eye level with Crona.

"Crona Asudem," Crona answered quietly. "I'm a new student."

"Well, do you have your paperwork?" the chairman questioned. He wasn't quite sure why, but he was starting to get a bad feeling about this child. The boy nodded in response to his question and reached into his pocket, pulling out a long white envelope. Crona opened it and Mr. Suoh had just enough time to notice something black shoot out of the envelope before he was knocked off his feet.

"Didja get him?" Ragnarok asked, poking his head out of Crona's shoulder.

"Ow! Ragnarok, you're not supposed to come out when we're at school!" Crona chided. Ragnarok just poked him in the cheek, eliciting another whine.

"Aw, shut up, Crona!" The Demon Sword glanced at the chairman, laughing when he saw a black arrow flick out of the man's mouth like a snake's tongue. After a few seconds, the man sat up and shook his head. He looked up at Crona, who winced when he saw that one of the chairman's eyes was now a glowing red.

"Good work, Crona," came Medusa's voice from the chairman's mouth. "You managed to infiltrate the school faster than I thought you would; your mother is very pleased."

"Thank you, Lady Medusa," Crona said, bowing. The chairman's body stood up, now under the complete control of Medusa.

"Now, Crona," the witch continued, looking down at the boy. "Do you remember what you have to do now?"

"I have to look for the pure soul that can help create the philosopher's stone," Crona recited, still not meeting Medusa's gaze.

"Very good. And Ragnarok, remember not to show yourself during school- we don't want to blow our cover now, do we?"

"Of course not, Lady Medusa," Ragnarok said, inclining his head.

"Lady Medusa . . .," Crona said hesitantly. "If I may ask . . . what exactly _is_ the philosopher's stone?" He looked up and sucked in a breath when he saw Medusa frowning at him.

"I'll tell you when I think you're ready," she said. "You don't need to worry about it now; just focus on finding that pure soul. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sorry, Lady Medusa," Crona said quickly, averting his gaze to the floor again.

"Alright, then you'd better get going; you don't want to be late to class on your first day of school."

"Thank you. Goodbye, Lady Medusa," Crona said as he scurried out of the room, Ragnarok disappearing into his back. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, Ragnarok's voice surfaced in the back of Crona's mind.

"You idiot!" the Demon Sword yelled as Crona passed by the secretary. "What the hell were you thinking, talking back to Lady Medusa like that?"

"Please stop yelling! I was just-" Crona began to explain, but a voice called out to him just as he was about to exit the room.

"Crona, wait a moment!" the secretary said, interrupting the boy's conversation with himself. "You need a schedule . . . oh, the chairman just sent me one!" She pressed a few buttons on her keyboard and soon she held a printed version of Crona's schedule in her hand.

"The president of class 1-A should be here in a few minutes to show you to your classes," she said as Crona took the paper and started to read through it. "I hope you enjoy your time here at Ouran Academy!"

"Oh, uh, thank you," Crona said awkwardly. He stood there for a few minutes in silence, the secretary giving him a curious glance now and then. Soon, the class president appeared and introduced himself, leading Crona out of the room. The secretary waved as Crona disappeared around the doorway, not even pausing to return the gesture.

"What an odd boy," the secretary muttered. She started out the open doorway for a moment, before shaking her head and turning back to her work, trying to put the boy with pink hair out of her mind.

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_Meanwhile, near a place called Central . . ._

"Brother, are you sure this is okay?" the suit of armor asked, turning to the boy next to him. The boy just grinned and pushed a strand of golden hair out of his eyes.

"Of course it is, Al," he reassured the armor. "I mean, everything has a little bit of a risk, right? If there really _is_ a clue to the philosopher's stone in that room, we might as well take the chance."

"Yeah, I guess so . . .," Al said, getting an uneasy feeling as they both stared into the doorway in front of them. All they could see was blackness, and Al took a subconscious step closer to his brother. Ed grinned at him again and gestured to the darkness.

"Well, should we get going?" he asked. Al tried his best to nod.

"Yeah, let's go."

"Alright! Clue to the philosopher's stone, here we come!"

And with that they entered the doorway, unaware that where it led was quickly becoming very risky indeed.

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**A/N: Chapter Two should be up in about another two weeks!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay, Chapter 2 is now up! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Oops . . . probably should've done this sooner . . . heh heh. I don't own Crona, Ragnarok, Medusa, Ed, Al, or any of the Hosts or any other characters that might show up in this story.****

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****Chapter 2**

_After school that day . . ._

Crona made sure that no one was in the bathroom before locking the door. He walked over to the huge mirror hanging over the sinks and sighed, staring at his reflection.

"Oh, this is so- _augh!"_ he cried out in pain as Ragnarok exploded out of his back.

"Well, Crona, I have to admit I'm a little impressed," the Demon Sword said, leaning on Crona's head. "You actually managed to make it through today without revealing everything!"

"Ow! Stop that!" Crona whined as Ragnarok pulled on his cheek. "I almost told during third period because this school is so big and scary and I still don't know how to deal with it . . . but then I remembered that Lady Medusa would be mad at me if I told anyone about her plans. . ."

"You're lucky you didn't lose it, or we'd _both_ be in trouble!" Ragnarok said, now settling for squeezing Crona's head.

"Ow, don't do that! If you squeeze my head too hard it'll get squished, and I don't know how to deal with that!"

"Ha ha! You're such a baby, Crona!"

"Stop that! Ragnarok!"

They both froze when they heard the door handle jiggle as someone tried to come into the room.

"Crona, are you in there?"

Crona's eyes widened as he recognized the voice of the class president. He winced as Ragnarok quickly disappeared into his back, and then he walked over and unlocked the door.

"Why were you locked in here?" the class president asked, stepping into the room. He glanced around, frowning. "And who were you talking to just now? I don't see anyone else in here. . ."

"Oh, I was, um . . .," Crona trailed off, gripping his arm and staring at the floor. The president waited for him to say more, but after a few seconds he realized he wasn't going to get any more out of the new boy at the moment.

"Anyway, listen; I have to go home soon, but I wanted to introduce you to some kids before I leave," the class president explained. "They're all part of this club called the Host Club, and they're all really nice. Well, the twins can be kind of mean at times, but other than that . . . oh, sorry, was I rambling?"

Crona was looking at him with an expression of uncertainty, so the president decided he'd better just get to the point.

"Anyway, I thought that they could help you get adjusted to Ouran," he said. "No, offense, but I really don't have enough time to tell you everything there is to know. Plus, they're probably better at explaining it to you than I am . . . So, do you want to go meet them?"

Crona bit his lip, and after a few seconds he nodded.

"Okay . . .," he said quietly. The class president smiled and gestured for Crona to follow him. They made their way over to music room three and paused outside the door.

"I'll introduce you, but then I really have to head off, okay?" the class president asked. Crona nodded again, and the president opened the door.

Crona was taken aback by the flurry of rose petals that floated out of the doorway. Once they had cleared away, he saw a group of seven boys sitting on or standing around a couch placed exactly in the center of the room.

"Welcome to the Host Club!" they chorused as the class president gently tugged an almost petrified Crona into the room. The seven boys studied the new kid for a moment, before getting up to all crowd around him.

"Hello, there!"

"Who are you?"

'"_What_ are you? A boy or a girl?""

"Twins, don't be rude!"

"Do you like cake?"

"Mitsukuni . . ."

All of these questions seemed to blend together in Crona's mind as he was overcome by all of the people trying to talk to him at once. He grabbed his head and cringed, ducking down to try and get away from all the noise; it was almost too much for him to handle at this point . . .

"Hey, guys, stop!" one of the boys said, and all of the others instantly stopped talking. Crona glanced up and saw the one with brown hair and an almost girlish face glaring at the others. "Can't you see he can't handle you all talking at once?"

"Oh, you're right, Haruhi!" a tall blonde said. He bowed to Crona apologetically. "We're sorry to overwhelm you."

"There, it's okay," the one called Haruhi said, crouching down next to Crona. He flinched away as she tried to put a reassuring arm around his shoulders. She frowned in confusion when he slowly stood up, brushing away her efforts to try and comfort him.

"Um, guys, this is Crona Asudem," the class president finally spoke up, and Crona gripped his arm as all of the boys stared at him. "He just transferred into class 1-A. He's very shy, as you can probably see, but I thought you all might be nice enough to sort of introduce him to Ouran and help him get adjusted."

"Of course!" the tall blonde exclaimed enthusiastically, and Crona glanced up to see him grinning warmly at him. He gestured to himself dramatically. "My name is Tamaki Suoh, president and King of the Ouran High School Host Club! I'm pleased to meet you!"

He held out his hand, but Crona just gazed at it warily. After a moment, Tamaki's smile faltered and he slowly took his hand back.

"Well," said the class president, inching towards the door. "I'll leave him to you guys then. Bye, Crona! Good luck!" And with that he exited the room and ran down the hallway, happy to finally be free of the strangest kid he'd ever met.

Meanwhile, Crona was now staring at each of the Host Club members in turn, wondering with a hint of fear what they were going to do now.

""Ahem,"" came two identical coughs to Crona's right. He looked and saw the two twins watching him, one of their arms hooked in the others'. They were completely identical, Crona noticed; the only difference was the way they parted their hair.

""We're the Hitachiin twins!"" they said in perfect unison, flashing identical smiles.

"I'm Hikaru," said the one on the left, waving.

"And I'm Kaoru," the one on the right said, waving as well.

""Nice to meet you!"" they said at the same time again. Crona just stared at them dumbly.

"You two are so similar . . .," he muttered. "I almost don't know how to deal with it . . ."

"Crona-chan!" said a high, cheerful voice, and Crona jumped as he felt something tug at his sleeve. He looked down and saw the smallest and most childlike boy there smiling up at him. "I'm Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but you can just call me Honey-Senpai! And that's my cousin, Takashi Morinozuka, but he just goes by Mori-Senpai." He gestured to a tall, menacing guy, who just grunted in acknowledgement, making Crona even more nervous about being there with all of them. Haruhi, noticing his terrified expression, decided to try and calm him again.

"It's okay," she said, and he gazed at her, his forlorn eyes wide. "Mori-Senpai's quiet, but really nice. I'm Haruhi Fujioka, by the way." She held out her hand to him. He seemed to debate shaking it, before shaking his head so quickly Haruhi wondered if it had been a twitch.

"And I'm Kyoya Ootori," the last boy said, pushing up his glasses. He didn't bother to try and shake hands. "As we said before, welcome to the Host Club."

They all waited for Crona to say something, but he still held his arm and refused to speak. Suddenly he let out a little gasp and stared up into space as Ragnarok's voice suddenly appeared in the back of his mind.

"Say something, idiot!" the Demon Sword hissed. "If you pretend to get friendly with them, maybe they can help you find some clues to finding that pure soul!"

"Yeah, okay," Crona agreed, and the twins raised their eyebrows at him, wondering why he was muttering to himself. He suddenly looked around at all of them again, his gaze finally settling on Tamaki. "Um, i-it's nice to meet you all." His voice was soft, but audible, and the Hosts smiled as they were finally able to get a positive response out of him.

"There's really nothing to be nervous about," Tamaki reassured him. "We're very admirable young men- if there's anything you want to know, just ask any of us!"

"Yeah, just watch out for Tamaki," one of the twins, which Crona presumed to be Hikaru, said, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"Sometimes he can be a bit of a drama king," Kaoru finished, also leaning over.

"Hey!" Tamaki exclaimed. "Be quiet, you doppelgangers! I am not a _drama king_!" The twins snorted derisively and the other members of the Host Club chuckled. Crona managed a small smile, and when Tamaki saw this he brought his hands together and grinned.

"Well, Crona, is there anything you'd like to know?" he asked. Crona thought for a moment, and then he nodded.

"Yes, actually . . . do you know-"

"Wait!" Ragnarok hissed, stopping Crona mid-sentence. "Don't mention anything about the pure soul yet! We need to gain their trust first or they might get suspicious!"

"Oh, right, okay," Crona muttered, nodding. The Hosts stared at him oddly.

"Crona, are you alright?" Haruhi asked, giving him a questioning glance.

_Geez, he almost looks like a girl . . .,_ Crona thought to himself as he looked at her face.

"Crona?" Tamaki said, calling his attention back to him.

"Oh, what? Sorry, um, I just wanted to ask . . . uh . . . what exactly is this 'Host Club' you guys are in?" Crona said, thinking quickly. Tamaki smiled and everyone else groaned, knowing he was going to go into a long explanation full of useless fluff that no one but him cared about.

"Well, you see, Crona . . .," Tamaki started to explain as the other Hosts wandered off to do their own thing. Crona sighed, wondering how he was going to deal with all of this day after day until who knows when.

He hoped he found a clue to where this pure soul might be soon, so he could get out of this huge and very strange place . . .

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**A/N: Whew, everyone's finally starting to meet eachother! The next chapter will feature Ed and Al, but I won't say anything more because I don't want to give it away (although you might be able to guess what happens). Once again, the next chapter will be up in about two weeks!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh no, it's now been a little _over_ two weeks since I last updated! Aw, and I was doing so well with being ahead of schedule . . . anyway, as promised, here is Chapter 3, starring Edward and Alphonse! Enjoy~!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing.**

**Chapter 3**

_A few hours later . . ._

The brothers emerged into a room almost completely submerged in darkness. The only light that could be seen was a thin sliver coming under the door in front of them. This confused them greatly, because they found the room to also be extremely small, and when they turned around, the door that they had just come through was nowhere to be found.

"Brother, where are we?" Al asked worriedly, trying to see Ed in the darkness.

"I'm not sure . . . AH! SOMETHING JUST FELL ON MY HEAD!" Ed screamed as something stringy and slightly damp landed on top of his golden hair.

"Brother, calm down!" Al exclaimed as Ed wildly flailed around, trying to remove the object from his head. He managed to ram into the door in front of them so hard that it fell open, and the boys tumbled out into a sunlit hallway.

"Ow! Al, get off me! You're heavy!" Ed groaned, trying to remove the suit of armor from where it was crushing his abdomen.

"Sorry, Brother!" Al said, quickly standing up. He helped Ed to his feet and the blonde glanced around at their surroundings while Al picked up the object that had landed on his brother's head.

"Ed, it's just a mop . . ." He held out the offending object towards his brother, who scowled and snatched it, throwing it off to the side. Both boys surveyed the area they were in, not having a clue as to where they actually were. They looked back to the room they had just fallen out of and were utterly perplexed when they realized that it was just a plain old broom closet.

"Okay, this is really weird . . .," Ed muttered, noticing that the hallway they were standing in was part of a huge building. It had at least two stories, Ed guessed when he looked out of one of the many windows lining the hall.

"Is this still part of Lab 5?" Al asked, and Ed shrugged.

"I don't know. If it is, this must be one gigantic room to fit this building inside of it . . . But if it was indoors, then why would there be sunlight coming through the windows?"

"Maybe it's artificial?"

"Yeah, maybe." The boys gazed around for a moment, and then Ed grinned and clapped his hands together.

"Well, if there really _is_ a clue to the philosopher's stone in this place, we'd better start searching!" he said.

"Yeah," Al agreed, and they started to head down the hallway towards a pair of big, brown, double-doors, the sign over which read:

_Music Room 3_

Suddenly, the doors slammed open and a person emerged from the room. Ed held out his arm to make Al pause as they watched. The person was very skinny, with a black dress and dull pink hair. They waved to the people in the room and then quickly shut the door and turned around, the smile on their face immediately being replaced by an exhausted and, Ed thought, extremely depressed expression. The person stared at the floor and started walking down the hallway towards the two brothers, not realizing that they were there.

"Excuse me," Al said as the boy (he assumed the kid was) walked by. The boy jumped and let out a yelp, surprised. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

The boy just stared at Al with an almost curious fascination.

"What are you?" he asked, looking into Al's glowing eyes. "Your soul wavelength is extremely strong-"

Suddenly, he seemed to be cut off mid-sentence by an invisible presence. He stared into space for a few seconds while the brothers shared a questioning glance.

"Oh, okay," the boy said to himself. He looked at Al again, his eyes wide. "Um, I have to go. Sorry."

"Wait!" Al called as the boy started to run down the hallway. He was about to go after him, but Ed grabbed his arm. "Brother . . .?"

"Just let him go, Al," Ed said. "I don't think he'd have been much of a help anyway. Let's just head to the room he came out of- maybe there's some people in there who can help us."

"Right, let's go," Al agreed. They started down the hallway again, noticing how spotless and clean everything was. Ed had a feeling that this place was definitely _not_ part of Lab 5 anymore.

The brothers got to the doors and grasped them both at the same time. They pushed, and the doors swung inward to reveal a flurry of rose petals that surrounded them in a cloud of red for a few seconds.

"What the hell was _that?"_ Ed asked incredulously, brushing rose petals off of his cloak. He looked into the room and found himself staring into the gazes of seven boys, all dressed in what appeared to be school uniforms. Ed and Al glanced at each other uncertainly, and then Ed shrugged and led the way into the room.

"Hello, there!" he said brightly, waving. The boys just stared at the two brothers. Eventually, a tall blonde came up to them.

"Hello, I'm Tamaki Suoh!" he said, holding out his hand. Ed grasped it, and Tamaki frowned when he thought he heard the chinking of metal. He then reasoned that it must have been the armor that the other new person was wearing.

"I'm Edward Elric and this is my brother, Alphonse," Ed said, gesturing to the suit of armor. By now, the rest of the boys had converged around the pair, and they were all studying them curiously.

"Are you new students?" a boy with black hair and glasses asked.

"Students?" Al questioned, his voice sounding muffled by the armor. "Is this place a school?"

"Yeah, Ouran Academy," said a boy with bright, orange hair to Ed's right.

"Don't tell us you just wandered in here without knowing where you were . . .?" a boy exactly identical to the previous one added. Ed and Al stared at them for a moment, amazed at how perfectly similar two people could be.

"Well, we didn't _mean_ to come here," Ed said after a few seconds. "We were just looking for something, and we heard that there was a clue to it in this room, but when we went in it we somehow ended up in a broom closet here at this school."

The Hosts just watched him uncertainly as he explained.

"That's some story you got there, pipsqueak," the first twin commented, smirking.

"Uh-oh," Al muttered when he saw Edward twitch. The blonde whipped around and pointed a finger at the twins.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE CAN'T GO OUTSIDE BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL MISTAKE HIM FOR A BUG AND TRY TO SQUISH HIM?" he screamed, making everyone but his brother jump in surprise. Al gripped Ed's shoulders as he hopped up and down in agitation.

"Brother, calm down!" Al said as the other boys all took a few hasty steps back, the twins clinging to each other protectively. After a moment, Ed seemed to calm down a little.

"Please try not to make comments like that when he's around," Al whispered to the twins. "He's a _little_ sensitive about his height."

"Alphonse, don't call your older brother little!" Ed exclaimed.

"Wha- I didn't! You take everything too personally!"

"Nuh-uh!"

""Wait!"" the twins said, stopping their argument. They looked at Al with their eyebrows raised.

"You mean _you're-"_

"-the _younger_ brother?" they asked.

"Um, yeah," Al said, embarrassed since he had once again been mistaken for the eldest brother. "I'm a year younger."

"But you're so much bigger- or maybe that's just the armor," Tamaki backtracked when he saw Ed starting to fume.

"Hey, you shouldn't feel bad about your height," a boy with brown hair piped up. He looked almost feminine, and if Ed and Al didn't know any better that could have sworn he was a girl. "At least you're taller than Honey-Senpai."

He gestured to a boy who looked about seven years younger than everyone there. Ed walked over to stand next to him, grinning when he realized that Honey was a few inches shorter than him.

"Ha, you're right! I _am_ taller than him!" he exclaimed, laughing almost maniacally. Honey's eyes widened and he backed up next to his cousin.

"Takashi, this guy is starting to scare me . . .," he said quietly as Ed continued his laughing fit. Al just put his face in his hands and sighed, waiting until Ed finally calmed down.

"Are you alright now, Brother?" Al asked once the laughing had ceased. Ed nodded.

"Yup, I'm good- oh no!" Ed had backed up to lean against a pedestal that was situated near him, when he'd accidentally knocked over a very expensive-looking vase perched on top of it. Everyone stared openmouthed at the vase as it shattered, the sound making them all wince. They all slowly turned to stare at Edward.

"Not again . . .," the boy with the glasses sighed, and Ed shrugged apologetically.

"No problem, we'll have it fixed up in a snap," Ed reassured him. The Hosts stared at him skeptically as he squatted down next to the broken vase. He clapped his hands and held them over the vase, a bright light appearing out of his fingertips. The Hosts watched in amazement as the light fizzled and cracked, making a cloud of smoke. After a few seconds, the light suddenly stopped. When the smoke cleared, the vase was sitting just as it had been before, fully repaired.

"What the . . .?" Tamaki gasped, and the rest of the Hosts took up a similar cry as Ed stood up and brushed his hands off on his cloak. Ed and Al looked at them all in puzzlement.

"What? It's just alchemy," Ed said as the twins gingerly picked up the vase and everyone crowded around to study it.

"What's alchemy?" Haruhi asked, amazed at how perfectly the vase had been put back together.

"It's the science of deconstructing and reconstructing matter," Al explained. Haruhi gave him a blank stare, so he tried a different approach. "Um . . . it's like, if you have something made of a certain substance, you can break it down and then recreate a new thing using the same substance."

"Yeah, we're alchemists," Ed chimed in, and by now everyone had turned their attention from the vase to the two brothers. Ed half-smiled. "By the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you've never heard of us, have you? Does the Fullmetal Alchemist ring a bell?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Right, didn't think so."

"Um, how did you do that?" Tamaki asked, referring to the vase now perched where it had been before.

"Like we said, I used alchemy," Ed told him.

"Is that like some type of black magic?" one of the twins asked.

"Are you part of Nekozawa's club, pipsqueak?" the other one questioned.

"No, I've never heard of that club, and WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL WHEN HE STEPS INTO A PUDDLE THE WATER GOES ALL THE WAY OVER HIS HEAD?"

"Brother, calm down!" Al exclaimed, once again grabbing Ed's shoulders. The twins couldn't help but snicker at the fact that Ed got offended so easily.

"Look, who are you two anyway?" the blonde asked, shoving away his brother's hands. "I don't even know you're names! I'm gonna have to start calling you Twin One and Twin Two!"

""Well, we're-""

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kyoya cut the twins off as they were about to go into their introductory speech. "Look, I'll make this fast; those are the Hitachiin twins- that's Hikaru, that's Kaoru. I'm Kyoya Ootori, that's Mori-Senpai, that's Haruhi over there, and you know all the rest. Now, explain how you just fixed that vase!"

Ed and Al shrunk back instinctively as Kyoya stared them down menacingly. He had seemed so dormant before, the brothers wondered if he could have multiple personalities or something.

"Now, now, Kyoya, calm yourself," Tamaki said, putting a hand on Kyoya's shoulder. "I'm sure these boys don't mean any harm, am I right?"

Ed and Al nodded quickly, and Tamaki grinned.

"There, you see?"

"You're going to take _their_ word for it?" Kyoya muttered, still eyeing the pair suspiciously.

"Um, listen," Al piped up. "We'd love to explain all about alchemy and everything, but I think Brother and I should be going; it's getting dark outside, and we need to go find a place to stay for the night."

Everyone glanced out the window and was surprised to find that the sky was turning a beautiful shade of pink. They looked at the clock and realized that it was almost five-thirty in the evening.

"Wow, time sure flies!" Tamaki commented.

"Oh no, I have to go home and start dinner or it won't be ready before dad comes home!" Haruhi groaned. She smiled at Ed and Al apologetically. "Sorry, but I really have to go. Nice meeting you!" She rushed over to a hidden closet, grabbed her book bag, and dashed out the door.

"Wait, my darling daughter!" Tamaki cried as Haruhi disappeared from sight. "You didn't say goodbye to daddy!"

"Uh, _daddy . . ._?" Ed questioned as Tamaki ran to catch up with her.

""It's a long story,"" the twins said. ""Just don't even ask."" Ed held up his hands to show he wasn't going to pry and let it go. Tamaki came back into the room, pouting.

"She- er, I mean _he_, ran as fast as he could when he saw me coming," he grumbled as he came up to the group. He then straightened up and smiled at Ed and Al.

"Well now, you say you don't have a place to stay?" he asked, and the brothers shook their heads. "You can come stay with me, if you'd like! The Suoh Mansion number two has lots of spare rooms!"

"Tamaki, are you crazy?" Kyoya hissed. He tugged Tamaki off to the side, out of earshot of the rest of the group. "You just met these guys and you're inviting them to stay with you? Not to mention that weird thing they did with the vase . . . I've never heard of _alchemy_ before. What if it's some weird occult thing?"

"Yeah, Tama-chan," Honey piped up, having snuck up in their conversation. "I mean, they seem nice and all, but can you really trust them after knowing them for such a short time?"

"Aw, it'll be fine!" Tamaki waved away their concerns. "I just have this feeling about those two . . . like, as if they were meant to meet us. I want to help them as best I can, especially if they're looking for something." Honey and Kyoya just stared at him.

"I knew it," Kyoya said, shaking his head. "You're officially crazy. Fine, do whatever you want." He threw his hands in the air and walked over to rejoin the rest of the group.

"Tama-chan, just be careful, okay?" Honey said, tugging on his sleeve. Tamaki just grinned and ruffled his hair.

"Of course, Honey-Senpai!" He then went over to the other boys, Honey trailing along behind. Ed was once again having a fit, and Tamaki quickly deduced that it had been caused once again by the twins calling Ed small.

"Well, it's settled," Tamaki said once Ed had calmed down. "You both can stay with me for the night!"

"Oh, no, we don't want to be a burden," Al said quickly, but Tamaki waved his excuses away.

"Really, it's fine."

"No, we'll just go find a hotel. We've got money- oh wait . . .," Ed trailed off, glancing at Al.

"Oh no, Brother, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If they know nothing about alchemy, I doubt any place around here would accept any checks from Central . . ." They shared another glance, and then looked back at Tamaki.

"Okay, we'll accept your offer," Ed said.

"Excellent!" Tamaki beamed. "Well, then let's head off; it's starting to get darker outside, and my servants tend to worry if I'm late . . ."

_Servants?_ Ed and Al thought as Tamaki grabbed his book bag out of the hidden closet. _This guy must be loaded!_

"Well, bye guys! See you tomorrow!" Tamaki said, waving to the other Hosts as he ushered Ed and Al out the doors.

"Yeah, see you!" Ed said, waving as well.

"Bye!" Al added.

""See you later, pipsqueak!"" the twins shouted as the trio exited the doors.

"DON'T CALL ME SMALL!" Ed screamed, making Al have to grab onto him so he wouldn't run back into the room as the twins laughed maniacally.

Al sighed as he carried his flailing brother down the hallway, hoping that things would start to get a little more normal soon . . .

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will finally feature everyone coming together! Look for it in about two weeks~!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Aha! I'm not late this time! Yes! Oh, and any French translations you need will be in author's note at the bottom. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, so just read on and you'll find out!**

**Disclaimer: What? I own all the rights to _Soul Eater_, _Ouran_, AND _Fullmetal_? Wow, I must be dreaming! . . . Oh wait, I am. Darn it . . .**

**Chapter 4**

_Later that evening . . ._

Ed and Al stared openmouthed as they exited the limo at Tamaki's house. It was one of the biggest houses they'd ever seen, and they could only imagine what the Suoh Mansion number one must look like. Tamaki led them inside and introduced them to his servants, who eyed the brothers with curious and suspicious looks as they passed.

"These two will be my honored guests for as long as they need to stay, so please treat them as such," Tamaki told the servants as he led Ed and Al up the staircase. He paused and turned to the maids waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Oh, and would you mind fetching two pairs of pajamas and taking them up to the guest bedrooms? Thank you!"

He continued up the stairs, gesturing for Ed and Al to follow, until they eventually ended up in what the brothers presumed to be one of the many guest bedrooms.

"Ed, you can stay here, and Al, you can go in the room next door," Tamaki informed them.

"Okay, thanks," Al replied, and Tamaki pointed to a room down the hall.

"I'll be in that room over there if you need me. Dinner will be served around seven, so feel free to explore the house until then. I'm sorry, but I have to do some schoolwork before it gets too late . . . Will you two be alright on your own?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Ed said, waving away Tamaki's concerns. Tamaki grinned and then started to walk out of the room.

"Alright, well just ask any of the servants if you need anything." He paused and turned back to Alphonse. "You know, Al, you don't have to stay in that suit of armor. If you need a set of clean clothes or something I can lend you some."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Al said quickly. "I prefer to stay in the armor, if that's okay." Tamaki shrugged.

"Whatever makes you happy. See you at seven!"

With a wave, he disappeared down the hallway. Ed and Al glanced at each other before deciding to accept Tamaki's offer of exploring the house, hoping that there might be a sliver of explanation as to why they had ended up in this strange place where alchemy was unheard of. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything, and no matter how many servants they asked, no one had ever heard of alchemy or Central before. Soon, it was dinnertime, and Tamaki, Ed, and Al gathered around the table.

"Aren't your parents going to join us?" Al asked when Tamaki told them all to dig in.

"My dad lives in Suoh mansion number one, so he eats there," Tamaki explained. When he didn't say anything more, Ed asked, hesitantly:

"And what about your mother?"

"She's somewhere in France, I think."

"You _think?"_

"Uh-huh. Now, what was that thing you were talking about before? Acklemy, or something?"

"Oh, you mean _alchemy_," Al corrected, guessing that Tamaki didn't really have the desire to discuss his family life. "Like we said before, it's the science of deconstructing and reconstructing matter. That is, you can break something down and then recreate a new substance from the same materials."

"But they have to be equal," Ed said through a mouthful of food. His brother made a disapproving noise, so Ed swallowed before continuing. "'To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.' That's the law of equivalent exchange, and you can't surpass that."

"Why?" Tamaki asked, frowning as he tried to absorb all of the information.

"That's just the way it works. Bad things happen if you try to cheat that law . . ." Ed and Al both stared down somberly, and Tamaki wondered if they knew that fact from experience. But, he sensed that they didn't want to discuss it, and so he settled for trying to change the topic to stop the depressing silence issuing from the two brothers.

"Al, aren't you hungry? You haven't touched your food!"

"What? Oh, yeah, I-I just don't really have much of an appetite right now," Al said. It sounded to Tamaki like that wasn't really the reason he wasn't eating, but he decided not to push it; the brothers seemed like they didn't like being nagged for information.

The rest of dinner passed fairly quickly, with the Elric brothers explaining more about alchemy. Tamaki still couldn't quite grasp all of the finer details, but he was able to understand the law of equivalent exchange and what the greatest taboo an alchemist could ever commit was: human transmutation. They only explained what it meant briefly, but when Tamaki asked for more information they just shook their heads and changed the subject.

Eventually, the boys left the table and wandered off into their respective rooms. Ed and Al were surprised to see a set of silk pajamas on their beds- blue ones for Ed, and purple ones for Al. Since Alphonse couldn't change into them and had nothing else to do, he went over to Ed's room and knocked on the door.

"Brother, can I come in?"

"Yeah, actually I think I might need your help," came Ed's muffled reply through the door.

"With putting on pajamas?" Al questioned, opening the door. He found Ed in the process of trying to button the shirt, but he seemed to be having difficulties.

"The fabric keeps catching in my auto-mail," Ed explained, as Al went over to help him.

"Brother, you need to be more careful," Al chided. "Look- you already ripped up the fabric!"

"It's not _my_ fault!"

"Hey, are you guys alright in . . ." Tamaki trailed off as he came into the room. His mouth opened in confusion, and Ed and Al realized that he was staring at Ed's arm. More specifically, at Ed's _auto-mail_ arm. The brothers exchanged a glance, wondering how Tamaki was going to react.

"Is . . . is that real?" Tamaki asked, cautiously walking up to Ed. He raised his hand as if to touch him arm, but then he stopped.

"Uh, yeah," Ed said. He sighed; he'd hoped he could hide the fact that he had two prosthetic limbs until tomorrow, when he and Al would be able to look for a way out of this strange place. Then no one would ever question what had happened, and no one would ever know what the brothers had tried to do all those years ago. But, now that plan had been ruined.

"What . . . I mean, how?" Tamaki questioned softly, looking into Ed's eyes. "How did it happen?"

Ed was about to tell him that it had been a car accident that took away his arm, but something in Tamaki's expression made him stop before he could utter the lie. There was just something about Tamaki that made Ed feel like he should tell him the truth, and if he did, that Tamaki would understand. Ed took a deep breath.

"I lost my arm . . . because we tried to bring our mother back from the dead."

"Brother!" Al exclaimed as Tamaki gasped. Before anyone could say anything else, Ed rushed on.

"Well, actually, I lost my _leg_ trying to bring my mother back-"

"You lost your leg, too?" Tamaki cut in, and Ed nodded, lifting up the left leg of his pants (which were much too long for him) to reveal his auto-mail foot. "Oh my god . . ."

"Yeah, so anyway, I lost my leg, but Al lost his entire body," Ed continued, and Tamaki stared at Alphonse, shock plastered across his face. "I managed to tie his soul to the suit of armor, but it cost me my right arm. When Al woke up, he took me to our friend Winry's place, and she fixed me up with these auto-mail limbs. She's a mechanic, so it was pretty easy for her." Ed paused, taking another deep breath.

"And there you have it," he finished. "Now you know that we committed the ultimate taboo, and we paid the price for it."

There was a strained silence after Ed's explanation as Tamaki digested their story. Ed and Al waited nervously for his reaction, wondering if he was going to throw them out or call them crazy fools or something that most people had done before. What they weren't prepared for, however, was the actual reaction they got.

"Oh, you poor, poor brothers!" Tamaki sobbed, throwing his arms around Ed in a crushing hug. "All you wanted to do was bring your dear mother back, and look at the horrible price you had to pay for it! _C'est __très__ injuste!_"

"W-what?" Ed said, trying to dislodge Tamaki from where he was sobbing into his shoulder.

"Oh, Edward, you must have suffered so much!" Tamaki glanced at Al, and then he immediately released Ed to cling to the suit of armor.

"And Alphonse, I can't imagine what you must have gone through, losing your entire body!" he said as Al tried to get away.

"U-um, Brother?" Al said, looking at Ed questioningly, but Ed seemed just as shocked by Tamaki's response as he was. After a few moments, Tamaki let go of Al and stepped back, wiping his eyes off on his sleeve.

"Well now, that story may just explain something, as sad as it is," he said. "That thing you said you were looking for earlier- can it be used to restore your original bodies?"

The brothers stared at Tamaki, openmouthed.

"How did you know that?" Ed exclaimed, and Tamaki's mouth rose up in a half-smile.

"Well, that's what I would do if I were in your position." The brothers just continued to gape at him.

"You don't think we're some horrible people who defied the laws of alchemy and needed to be punished?" Al asked, and Tamaki shook his head.

"Of course not! You were only doing what you thought was right, so why should you be punished for it?" Ed and Al had no response to this, shocked that a boy they just met not even a day ago could learn what they had done and yet fully support them for it. No one had ever done that before . . .

"Well, if what you're looking for can help restore your bodies, then I'm going to give every effort I can to help you find it," Tamaki said.

""Really?"" the brothers asked.

"Of course!" Tamaki replied, grinning. "After all you're both _mes amis,_ are you not?"

Ed and Al looked at each other, a slow grin spreading across Ed's face, and he knew that inside his brother was smiling as well.

"Thank you, Tamaki," Ed said, and Tamaki just patted him on the shoulder. The brothers sighed and let out a chuckle of relief, happy to have found an ally in this strange new world.

* * *

_The next day at school . . ._

When Tamaki, Ed, and Al got to Ouran, they immediately made their way to the chairman's office to talk to Tamaki's father about having the brothers stay at school and at Suoh Mansion number two. Ed and Al had wanted to leave, but Tamaki had convinced them to stay, saying that if they specifically ended up at Ouran when they got sent into this new world, then that was the most likely place they were going to find a clue on how to get home. Tamaki had then explained that the chairman was actually his father, and Tamaki might be able to convince him to let Ed and Al stay at Ouran. So, that trio had set off that morning ready to get Ed and Al officially registered at the school.

When they got to the chairman's office, the secretary immediately welcomed them in and told them to just go right ahead into Mr. Suoh's office. They did so, and found Tamaki's father sitting at his desk, looking something up on the computer.

"Dad," Tamaki said, startling the chairman. He jumped up and stared at the trio suspiciously for a second, before his gaze settled on Tamaki and he relaxed slightly.

"Tamaki?" he asked, sounding as if he'd been expecting someone else. "What are you doing here? And who are these two?"

"Um, these are some friends I met yesterday, and I was wondering if you might be able to let them stay at Ouran for a while; if not permanently, then maybe as a trial period to see how they like it," Tamaki explained as his father walked over to them. Tamaki didn't quite know why, but he was starting to get a weird feeling about his dad, almost as if the chairman wasn't really who he claimed to be. However, Tamaki just brushed off these feelings, trying to account them to the fact that he hadn't actually seen or heard from his dad in a few days, so it was kind of a sudden meeting.

"Well, do you two have any paperwork with you that I can look at?" the chairman asked, addressing Ed and Al. He raised one eyebrow at Alphonse's armor, but made no comment.

"Um, no, we haven't had a chance to get it transferred yet," Ed said nervously, not liking how intently Mr. Suoh was examining his brother. After a second, the chairman turned to him.

"I'm not sure how you expect to transfer without any paperwork, but I may be able to let you stay for a trial period. What are your names?"

"I'm Edward Elric and he's Alphonse Elric," Ed informed the chairman as he started to walk back to his computer. Suddenly, the chairman froze. Slowly, he turned around to face Ed, his eyes wide.

"Edward Elric?" he repeated softly. He narrowed his eyes. "As in . . . the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Tamaki and Ed's mouths fell open, and Alphonse let out a little gasp of surprise.

"Dad, how did you know that?" Tamaki asked, and a slow, almost malicious grin spread across the chairman's face.

"So it's true, then," he said to himself. "She actually did it . . ." All of a sudden, he rushed back to Ed and Al and held out a hand to each of them.

"Well then, this changes things," he said as Ed and Al cautiously each shook one of his hands. "Welcome to Ouran! Feel free to stay as long as you want. I'll get all of the administrative things settled soon. Enjoy your time here!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Ed exclaimed as Mr. Suoh started to usher them out the door.

"How did you know who Brother was?" Al asked. "No one around here seemed to recognize us except you!"

"I'll explain it all later," the chairman tried to reassure them as Ed dug his feet into the carpet to keep from being pushed forward.

"But-"

The boys' protests were cut off as the door opened and Crona scurried into the room. He froze when he saw Tamaki, Ed, and Al, and his eyes flicked form the boys to the chairman questioningly. He looked at a complete loss of what to do.

"Crona, perfect timing!" the chairman exclaimed enthusiastically, making Crona flinch.

"Hey, you're that kid who ran from us yesterday!" Ed said, and Crona's frightened gaze shifted to him.

"Oh, um . . .," Crona trailed off as Mr. Suoh walked over to him.

"Crona, this is my son, Tamaki," the chairman said gesturing to said boy. Crona's head whipped back and forth between them, his expression utterly confused. The chairman frowned slightly and Crona immediately gripped his arm and stared at the floor.

"We met yesterday, actually," Tamaki informed his father, smiling at Crona, remembering how shy the boy had been the day before. Crona attempted to smile back, but it turned out as more of a pained grimace.

"Oh, well that's good," the chairman said. He put his hand on Crona's shoulder, making the pink-haired boy wince. "Well, these two are the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse."

"Nice to formally meet you," Al said, holding his hand out for Crona to shake. Crona just stared at it uncertainly for a few seconds, until the chairman gently squeezed his shoulder. The pressure was light, but it was enough to make Crona grab Al's hand and shake it frantically.

"N-nice to meet you, too," Crona said quickly, and Ed sensed that there was something really weird about this kid.

"These two are new here, just like you, so maybe you could get adjusted to Ouran together?" the chairman suggested, but by the look he was giving Crona Ed could tell it wasn't really a choice. Ed and Al got the impression that there was something going on between Crona and the chairman, but they had no clue what it could be that would make Crona so nervous around him.

"Dad, Ed and Al are going to stay in my class, right?" Tamaki asked, and his father nodded.

"Yes, they can tag along with you until I get their schedules sorted out. Speaking of classes, you all might want to hurry, or you'll be late!"

Tamaki looked at the clock and gasped, realizing that they had only a few minutes before the first bell rang.

"Come on Ed, Al!" he said, opening the door and completely forgetting about the fact that his father had recognized who Edward was.

"Alright, we're coming!" Ed said as Tamaki disappeared with a wave to his dad. Ed followed Tamaki out the door, but Al paused.

"Thank you for letting us stay," he said to Mr. Suoh, who just inclined his head with a smile. "Bye! And bye to you too, Crona!"

"Oh, um, bye . . .," Crona called after him as Al ran to catch up with his brother. The chairman waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, and then he closed the door and whirled around to grab Crona's shoulders.

"Now you listen to me, Crona, because what I'm going to tell you is very important," he said as Crona started to tremble.

"Y-yes, Lady Medusa, I'm listening," he replied. Medusa leaned down so she was eye level with him.

"Remember how I told you that I met a woman who could help me create the philosopher's stone?" Medusa asked, and Crona nodded. "Right, well she said that she knew of a boy who was the perfect candidate to create one. He's called the Fullmetal Alchemist, but his real name is Edward Elric. Now, she actually got him to come to this school much faster than I expected her to, that's why I haven't told you any of this before; I was going to let you search around for the pure soul for a little bit before I gave you your next task, but it seems you won't get as much time to get acquainted with the school as I had hoped you would.

"So, as well as finding the pure soul, I also want you to befriend Edward, and his brother as well, since I've heard they never go anywhere without each other. Once you do this, you can find out exactly how to create a stone, and help him along the path to creating one. Do you understand what you have to do?"

"Yes, Lady Medusa," Crona replied. Medusa looked at him sternly.

"And can you do it?" she asked. Crona nodded.

"Of course, Lady Medusa."

Medusa stared at his face for a moment, before standing up and giving him a pat on the shoulder, making him wince again.

"Good boy, Crona," she said, walking over to the desk. "You're doing very well so far."

"Thank you."

"Now, hurry up and get to class so you can start looking for the soul again. And don't forget about the Elrics!" Medusa called after Crona as he hurried out the door. He nodded and then entered the secretary's office, closing the door behind him. He rushed out into the hallway and then he paused, leaning against a wall.

"Oh, this is getting to be a lot of stuff to do . . .," he groaned, sliding to the floor. "I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with it all. . ."

"Just hurry up and get to class before someone finds you!" Ragnarok commanded from the back of Crona's mind. "If you get in trouble, they'll send you to Medusa, you know that, right?"

Crona gasped and jumped up, looking around wildly until he found a sign telling him where the hallway his first class was in was. He rushed towards it, fearing the punishment he'd have to endure if he was sent to the office, and hoping that he'd be able to make friends with the Elric brothers and find that pure soul soon . . .

* * *

**A/N: Here are the French translations:**

**_C'est __très__ injuste!-_ It's so unfair!**

_**mes amis-**_** my friends**

**Yes, sorry if Tamaki seems a little OOC with his speaking French, but I just felt like it would suit his character to randomly lapse into French words or phrases here and there. On a side note, I'd be crazy not to do a little advertizing on this fanfic: for those of you into _Soul Eater_, especially Ragnarok, you should check out my new story, called _When I Was Young._ It's basically the story of Ragnarok's past, from his point of view. Don't feel required to read it, I'm just putting it out there for anyone interested, because I know it's already getting buried under the more frequently updated fanfics in the _Soul Eater _section. Anyway, expect the next chapter for _this_ fanfic in . . . you guessed it, two weeks! ^.^**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello there! I decided to update a little early this time, just for you guys! Enjoy reading Chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: No, I still don't own anything. I know, I know- I'm just as surprised as you are!**

**Chapter 5**

_After school in Music Room 3 . . ._

""Hey there, pipsqueak!"" the twins chorused, grinning as Ed, Al, and Tamaki entered the room.

"DON'T CALL ME A BEAN!" Ed yelled, stomping his foot in agitation.

"Twins, knock it off!" Tamaki said as he started to help set things up for the meeting that day.

"Eddie-chan, Allie-chan, are you gonna stay for the meeting today?" Honey asked, skipping up to them. As the school day had gone on, most of the Hosts had warmed up to the brothers, once they'd realized that Tamaki was perfectly fine after letting them stay at his house for the night. The only one that still seemed wary of the brothers was Kyoya, but Tamaki had assured them that Kyoya just hadn't had time to really get to know them yet.

"Yeah, Tamaki said we could hang out and see what exactly it is that you guys do around here," Ed replied in answer to Honey's question.

"Yay!" Honey exclaimed, smiling. "You can eat some cake with me!" Ed grinned and shook his head, wondering how this kid could actually be seventeen years old.

"Alright, places people!" Tamaki called from the doorway, his hand resting on the brass door handle. All of the Hosts quickly scrambled to gather around the couch in the center of the room, leaving Ed and Al standing alone.

"Um, what exactly are _we_ supposed to do?" Ed asked.

"Oh, you two can just stay there- we'll introduce you to our guests!" Tamaki grinned.

"Oh no, that's okay-" Al started to say, but he was cut off as Tamaki opened the doors and a group of girls streamed into the room.

"Welcome, ladies!" the Hosts chorused as the girls crowded around them. Some of them noticed Ed and Al and cast a few curious glances their way.

"We're so glad you lovely ladies could join us this afternoon!" Tamaki said, striding over to the brothers. "But before we start the meeting, I'd like to introduce you to some new students: this is Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse."

"Um, hi," Ed said awkwardly as all of the ladies' gazes turned to him and his brother. There was a pause, and then all of the girls started talking at once. It was hard to discern exactly what each one was saying, but Ed managed to pick out a particularly loud squeal coming from a girl to his right.

"Ooh, that little blonde is _sooo_ cute!" she exclaimed, and her friend nodded in agreement. Ed let out a little growl of annoyance and turned to her.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL THAT WHEN HE GOES TO THE STORE HE HAS TO STAND ON AL'S SHOULDERS JUST TO SEE OVER THE CHECKOUT COUNTER?" he yelled, startling everyone but his brother, who just sighed wearily. There was another silent pause, and then all the girls squealed at once.

"_He's_ _sooo adorable!_"

"HEY!"

As Ed freaked out again and most of the girls continued to fawn over him, some of the ladies turned their attention to Al.

"Alphonse, if you don't mind my asking, how much older are you then Ed?" one of them asked, distracting Al from watching his brother's rant.

"Uh, actually, I'm a year younger," Al replied. The girls frowned in confusion.

"Really?" another one questioned. "But he's so much . . ."

"Less mature? I know, but I've learned to deal with it; after all, he _is_ my brother."

"Aw!" the girls cooed. "How sweet!"

""Are you all discussing brotherly love?"" said two identical voices. The twins appeared next to Alphonse, their arms draped around each other.

"Ah yes, nothing can beat the love between an older and a younger brother," Hikaru commented. Suddenly, Kaoru's expression turned almost pained and he stepped away from his twin, who looked at him questioningly.

"Hikaru," Kaoru said softly, glancing at his brother shyly. "Do you ever wish that I wasn't your twin, but just a younger brother instead?"

"Of course not, Kaoru!" Hikaru exclaimed, throwing his arms around Kaoru's shoulders. Kaoru looked away, but Hikaru grabbed his chin and pulled Kaoru's face close to his dramatically. "You know I'd never want you to be anything less than my twin!"

"Hikaru!" Kaoru cried, gripping Hikaru's shirt, and Al could swear he saw tears in his eyes.

"What are you two _doing?"_ Edward said, having escaped the mass of girls surrounding him and noticing the twins encounter.

"It's called 'brotherly love,' if you must know," Hikaru snapped, and Kaoru clung to him tighter. Ed and Al shared a very wierded-out glance.

"Alright, well, would you knock it off? It's kind of disturbing," Ed said. All of the ladies let out a gasp of surprise at how brazen Ed was being. The twins narrowed their eyes.

""We're the 'little devil' type; it comes with the package,"" they said. As Ed started to retort, the door to the clubroom opened and everyone turned as Crona shuffled into the room.

"Um, I'm sorry I'm late. I was- oh, my . . .," he trailed off when he realized that not only was the Host Club there, a huge group of girls, plus Ed and Al, were staring at him as well.

"T-that's a lot of people . . .," Crona muttered to himself, frozen in place. "I really don't know how to deal with this . . ."

"Crona, I'm so glad you made it!" Tamaki beamed, practically skipping over to him. He put an arm around Crona's shoulders, and Crona made a little squeaking sound and jerked away from his grasp.

"Oops, sorry!" Tamaki apologized, remembering how shy Crona was. He smiled again and turned to the group, who by now had completely forgotten the argument between Ed and the twins.

"Ladies, I'd like you to meet another friend of mine; this is Crona," Tamaki announced. The girls stared at Crona, and Ed thought that they looked almost like a pack of lions about to pounce. Sure enough, they suddenly started to rush forward.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Tamaki exclaimed, stepping in front of Crona protectively as the pink-haired boy backed up against the door, his sad eyes wide with terror. "Please don't crowd around him; he's extremely shy!"

The girls slowed down and eventually stopped, looking at Crona like he was the strangest yet most interesting thing they'd seen all day. Kyoya walked over to stand in front of Tamaki, smiling sweetly.

"Ladies, I know you're all eager to chat with out new guests, but we really must start the meeting before it gets too late," he said. "However, Ed, Al, and Crona will be walking around and sitting with each Host for a time, so you'll still get the chance to speak with them, okay?" The girls nodded. "Alright, then let's start; Hosts, please go to your tables!"

The ladies and all of the Hosts except Tamaki dispersed to go to their designated tables. Honey grabbed Ed and Al's hands and tugged them over to his spot, which was laden with cakes and other sweets. Tamaki told his guests that he would be at his table in a moment, and then he turned to Crona.

"Sorry about that; the ladies can get a little too excited sometimes," he said, smiling apologetically. Crona just stared at him, seeming to still be in shock at nearly getting swarmed by a mob of girls.

"Are you alright?" Tamaki asked, looking into his eyes. Crona nodded and averted his gaze to the floor, gripping his arm.

"T-thanks for not letting them surround me," Crona said quietly, glancing at the blonde.

"Oh, it was nothing; I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. You _are_ my friend, after all!"

Crona frowned at him, confused.

"I . . . I am?" he asked, and Tamaki grinned.

"Of course you are! Don't you think so?"

"Oh, yeah . . . I guess I am." Crona smiled weakly and Tamaki beamed again, happy to get at least a slightly positive response out of him. The Host King held out his hand to Crona.

"Do you want to stay at my table with me for a little bit?" he asked, and Crona nodded shyly again. Ever so slowly, he took Tamaki's hand in his own and allowed the blonde to lead him over to a set of couches where six ladies were sitting, waiting. Crona and Tamaki sat down, and then Tamaki commenced his Hosting.

The rest of the meeting passed by without any more major incidents, except for Ed and Al continuing to be wierded-out by Hikaru and Kaoru's "twincest" act. Crona didn't talk much, but Tamaki considered the fact that he didn't bolt for the doors when all of the ladies started cooing over him at once an accomplishment in itself. After the meeting had ended and all of the ladies had left, the Hosts cleaned up the room and then started to go their separate ways. Crona noticed Ed and Al exiting the room with Tamaki and he ran to catch up with them, remembering Medusa's orders from earlier about trying to make friends with them.

"Wait!" Crona called, and the trio paused so he could catch up with them. Crona gripped his arm as they all stared at him questioningly. "Um, can I walk with you?"

"Of course, Crona!" Tamaki grinned.

"Thanks."

"So, Crona, you just transferred here, too?" Al asked as Crona fell into step with the trio.

"Uh-huh," Crona replied. He glanced at Al and immediately started to stare at him with fascination, much as he had done the day before when he'd first encountered the brothers after school.

"Is my brother really that interesting?" Ed questioned, noticing how Al had started to shift uncomfortably from the intensity of Crona's gaze. Crona immediately looked at the floor.

"Oh, um, no. Sorry."

"Hey! Stop acting like a weirdo!" Ragnarok suddenly exclaimed in the back of Crona's mind, making the boy wince. "They're never gonna try and be your friends if you keep acting like some creepy kid!"

"But . . . Al's soul wavelength is so strong . . . it's not normal . . .," Crona said quietly so the others couldn't hear. Ragnarok laughed loudly, and Ed raised his eyebrow as he saw Crona flinch again.

"_You're_ worried about someone not being normal?" the Demon Sword said derisively. "You're not exactly a prime example of _normal_ yourself!"

"Well, no, but-"

"Crona, are you okay? Do you want to tell us something?" Tamaki asked when he saw Crona muttering to himself. Crona's mouth snapped shut and he shook his head, gripping his arm. There was a moment of silence and Tamaki looked at Crona anxiously, not really believing that he was as alright as he claimed to be. After a few seconds, Ed yawned and stretched his arms into the air. Crona and Tamaki's heads turned when they heard the chink of metal, and Ed quickly put his arms down.

"Heh heh, my joints must really be stiff," Ed laughed nervously, massaging his shoulder. "I should work out some more . . . anyway, so Tamaki, that's some club you run back there!"

"Oh, did you enjoy it!" Tamaki beamed enthusiastically. "I'm so glad! Yes, making young ladies happy just gives you a good feeling inside, doesn't it?"

The group continued talking about the Host Club until they got outside. Tamaki actually managed to get Crona involved in the conversation at one point, and despite his nagging feeling of nervousness and worry, Crona was starting to get a little more used to being around Tamaki and the brothers. He and the trio parted ways at the entrance to the school and set off to the places they were staying, already anxious for the next day of school to begin.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will include more troublesome twins, bodies (or lack thereof, as the case may be), and a new character to add to the boys' troubles! Look for it in about two weeks (or hopefully a little before)!**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Alright, here's Chapter 6 for you guys!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything . . . as usual.**

**Chapter 6**

_One week later . . ._

""Come on, Al, take off the armor!""

"Um, I really don't want to . . ."

"But we want to see what you look like, Allie-chan!"

"Uh, um . . ." Al looked around nervously. He was currently backed up against the wall of the clubroom, surrounded by Hikaru, Kaoru, and Honey. It was after club hours, and the Hosts had been bugging Al ever since the girls had left about taking off his armor so they could see what he looked like. Of course, Al couldn't show them his _real_ body, since it wasn't even there, but there was no way to tell them that without revealing what had happened to him all those years ago.

As the week had gone on, Ed, Al, and Crona had adjusted to the school pretty well. Crona had gotten a little closer to Tamaki in regards to becoming friends, but he was still having trouble connecting with Ed and Al, much to the disappointment of Medusa. The brothers, meanwhile, had gotten used to living at Suoh mansion number two; they enjoyed living the good life, even though they still hadn't found the clue to the philosopher's stone they were looking for, or a way to get back home.

The Host Club had also adjusted to having three new members. The boys weren't _official_ Hosts yet, but they still talked with the ladies just as the real Hosts were doing, and some girls were even starting to request them specifically. Ed and Al had already been designated their own table. Crona had been offered one as well, but he chose to stick by either Tamaki or Haruhi- who he felt surprisingly calm around, which he guessed was caused by his (neither the brothers or Crona had realized that Haruhi was a girl yet) reassuring nature-, and Crona only occasionally sat with the other Hosts.

Anyway, the latest thing to get everyone abuzz was the fact that Alphonse Elric never took off the strange armor he was wearing. Everyone had secretly wondered why he always wore it, but the topic was formally brought up when Crona, Ed, and Al got their school uniforms and Al had refused to wear his.

"Hey, quit bugging my brother, will you?" Ed barked, returning to the room from helping Crona get a new uniform- the previous one had been too short for Crona's lean physique. Crona drifted into the room after Ed, self-consciously tugging on the sleeves of his sky-blue jacket.

"Brother! I'm glad you're back!" Al exclaimed, relieved. He managed to get away from the wall while the Hosts were temporarily distracted. When they realized he had escaped, the twins clucked their tongues and threw up their hands.

"Well, if he won't take it off willingly . . .," Hikaru said, grinning devilishly and linking arms with his brother.

". . . we'll just have to find some _other_ way to see what's inside that armor," Kaoru finished, grinning as well. They laughed and walked off towards the closet that housed the cleaning supplies and Al stared after them, looking frightened.

"Oh, don't let them bother you," Tamaki said, patting Al on the shoulder. "They just like to get people riled up for no reason. Hey, don't stick your tongues out at me!" Tamaki exclaimed when the twins made a face at him. Tamaki whipped around to Kyoya. "Mother, our children our being rebellious!"

"_What?"_ Ed exclaimed, not having a clue as to what Tamaki was yelling about. Crona also seemed to be giving Tamaki an odd stare, and he took a slight step away from the Host King. Said blonde immediately looked heartbroken and rushed over to crouch in a corner.

"Wah, and now even Crona's getting scared of me!" he cried. Crona looked startled. He started to take a step towards Tamaki but then he paused, not quite sure what to do.

"Just leave him," Haruhi said, coming up behind Crona and startling him. "He does this a lot. Give him a few minutes and he'll be perfectly fine."

"Oh, okay . . .," Crona muttered, averting his gaze to the floor. Haruhi cautiously put a hand on his shoulder and Crona flinched, but amazingly didn't try to push her away. Haruhi smiled slightly, glad that Crona was getting at least a _little_ better at being with other people.

All of a sudden, there was a clanging sound, like hollow metal striking something, and everyone turned in the direction of Alphonse.

""Oops, sor- _OH MY GOD!_"" the twins screamed, and the rest of the Hosts took up a similar cry as well when they saw that Al's armor head had been knocked off, but there was nothing inside. Then, there was chaos. The twins, who had "accidentally" knocked off Al's head with a broom as they were cleaning, threw the brooms at him and ran to the other side of the room, where they huddled together, staring at the blackness inside the armor. Honey hid behind Mori, who quickly picked up his cousin and rushed over to the wall where the twins were. Kyoya and Haruhi just stood there with their mouths open, and Tamaki and Ed frantically tried to put Al's head back on, which was currently rolling towards the other side of the room.

Crona finally realized why Al's soul wavelength was so strong; it was because the boy was nothing _but_ a soul. Amidst all of the chaos, Crona was able to get a faint glimpse of the glowing orb floating around inside the center of the armor. However, he noticed that the little wispy tail end of the soul seemed to be attached to a blood-red mark on the back of Al's armor. He frowned and made a mental note to possibly try and ask Medusa about it later.

After a few minutes, Ed and Tamaki were successfully able to reattach Al's head. Tamaki attempted to get everyone's attention, but they were too worked up to listen to him. After a few unsuccessful tries, Ed had had enough. He tapped his brother on the arm and Al helped lift Ed onto his shoulders.

"SHUT UP!" Ed yelled, and then there was complete silence. "Thank you. Now, I know-"

"See, I _warned _you, Tamaki!" Kyoya exclaimed, cutting Ed off and pulling Tamaki away from the brothers. "Didn't I tell you that those two were bad news? And now look- one of them has no body! I_ knew_ 'alchemy' was just a codeword for some type of dark magic thing!"

"Yeah, Tama-chan, we warned you!" Honey piped up from atop Mori's shoulders.

"Hey, don't cut me off when I'm talking!" Ed yelled, and the clamor that had begun to start immediately ceased. "Listen, I know this looks bad, but it's really not! Okay, well, actually, it _is_ a little bad, seeing as how Al has no body and all . . . but that doesn't mean he's dangerous! We've been hanging out with you guys for what, a whole week? And had Al ever laid a hand on anyone? No! He's perfectly harmless!"

"But . . ."

". . . he has no _body!_" the twins exclaimed, and the clamor started up again.

"Everyone, _please_!" Tamaki said, and the noise once again petered down. "These two have been staying at my mansion for the past week, and I know that Alphonse wouldn't hurt a fly! There is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why Alphonse is like this, which I'm sure the brothers would have no problem explaining to you, seeing as how we ended up in this situation-"

"But Tamaki, you don't understand," Haruhi said. "Al has _no body_! How is he alive and walking around? There's nothing inside!"

"His soul is in there!" Ed said, gesturing to his brother. "That's how he's still alive!"

"But how is that _possible_?" Kyoya asked.

"His soul is attached to the armor," Crona said quietly. He gulped and looked at the ground when everyone turned their gazes on him. "I-I mean, couldn't you see it? It was connected to that red mark on the back of where his neck is supposed to be." Everyone just stared at him, and Ed frowned in confusion.

"Al, do you mind?" Ed asked, grasping the strings that came out of the top of Al's armored head.

"No, go ahead," Al sighed.

"Sorry about this," Ed said apologetically, tugging Al's head off. Everyone stared into the armor, but all they could see was darkness. They noticed the blood seal that Ed had drawn all those years ago, but they couldn't see the supposed soul that Crona had claimed was attached to it.

"What do you mean his soul is attached to the armor?" Kyoya asked. "I can't see anything."

"Can't you?" Crona questioned, frowning slightly. "It's right there- that glowing orb in the middle, that's his soul . . . oh no . . ."

Suddenly, Crona realized that he was the only person who was able to actually _see_ Alphonse's soul. Medusa had mentioned that he was the only one who could see the glowing orbs, but he had completely forgotten.

"Wait- you mean you can actually _see_ Al's _soul?_" Ed exclaimed, staring at Crona with complete fascination.

"Uh, um . . ." Crona started to back up towards the door, knowing that Ed was going to suddenly realize his plan, and then everything would be ruined.

"That's amazing!"

"Huh?" Crona paused, his eyes wide with confusion and terror. Ed was smiling at him like Crona was the most wonderful person on the planet. "W-what?"

"Wow, what a lucky break!" Ragnarok said suddenly in the back of Crona's mind. "That stupid kid actually seems _impressed_ by you! We can definitely use this to our advantage!"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so . . .," Crona agreed meekly. Ed hopped off of his brother's shoulders and started to walk over to Crona.

"So how do you do it? What does a soul look like?" he asked.

"Wait, wait- hold on!" Kyoya exclaimed. "You still haven't explained how an empty suit of armor is able to walk and talk on its own!" He gestured to Al, who was currently fitting his head back into place.

"Oh, right . . .," Ed said. And with that he launched into the story he had told Tamaki a week ago, about how he and Al had tried to bring their mother back from the dead but only ended up mangling themselves in the process. As he explained, the Hosts gradually got a little less uneasy, and when Ed had finished and everyone had had a chance to absorb all of the information, almost all of them took pity on the brothers, much as Tamaki had done, though Kyoya was still suspicious.

After the Hosts had gotten over the explanation of Alphonse and agreed not to tell anyone about the brothers' story, Ed and Al turned their attention to Crona, wondering how he could see souls and what they looked like. Crona said that he would explain later and excused himself from the room, claiming that he had something going on that evening and he was going to be late if he didn't leave now.

He made it outside and breathed a huge sigh of relief, joyful that his plan hadn't been revealed and that it seemed that Ed and Al were much more inclined to try and become friends with him. He started off towards the house he was staying at, wondering what Medusa would order him to do next . . .

* * *

_Meanwhile . . ._

Medusa turned on the computer and typed "Suoh, Tamaki," into the school record search engine. She had already examined the files of everyone in this so-called "Host Club" that Crona had been hanging out in after school, but it never hurt to check them out again in case there was a small detail that she had missed that could indicate that one of the members was the pure soul. She hadn't admitted it to Crona, but even Medusa herself had no real notion of how to find the pure soul; the only lead she had was that the person owning the soul went to Ouran Academy, and even that clue had been told to her by someone else.

After reading Tamaki's file, Medusa sighed and was about to type in "Hitachiin," when there was a loud knock on the office door. Medusa frowned, wondering who would want to bother her this late in the evening; she knew that most of the staff had gone home already.

"Come in!" the witch commanded, closing the window on the computer screen. She looked towards the doorway and let out a little gasp when a woman wearing a long, low-cut green dress entered the room.

"Lust!" Medusa exclaimed, standing up, and the woman smiled. She brushed her long, black hair out of her face and walked over to Medusa, stopping in front of her desk.

"It's been a while," Lust said as a greeting. She surveyed Medusa's current form- as Chairman Suoh-, and raised an eyebrow. "You seem to have changed."

Medusa chuckled.

"Yes, well, this isn't the most _ideal_ form I'd have chosen, but it gets the job done," the witch said. She cocked her head to one side questioningly. "You're here earlier than I expected." Lust nodded and walked over to the window, staring down at the entrance to the school.

"I thought you might need some help," she explained. "I realized that I hadn't given you much to go on besides the name of the school the soul resided in, so I thought if I came sooner we could figure out how to find it faster. Besides, I have a feeling that those Elric brothers might need a nudge in the right direction as well."

"Thank you, I'm sure you're help will be very useful," Medusa said. "I've sent Crona, my son, to become friends with the Elrics, with the hope that he can help edge them along to creating a philosopher's stone."

"Is this the boy you were telling me about that you used to create the Demon Sword with?" Lust asked, and Medusa nodded, grinning almost devilishly. Lust stared down at the school gates and then she noticed someone leaving the school building. "Oh, is that your boy down there now?"

Medusa went over to the window and looked where Lust had indicated. Sure enough, she saw Crona hurrying out of the gates, his pink hair illuminated by the setting sun.

"Yes, he's scurrying around as usual," Medusa commented. She crossed her arms in front of her and turned to Lust. "So, how did you get the Elrics here so quickly? I thought it would take at least a week, at minimum."

"Oh, I just planted an obvious clue right in their path and they jumped at the chance to follow it." The corner of Lust's mouth turned up in a smirk. "They know about the pure soul and how it can be used to create the philosopher's stone, but they think they can find a way to make the stone without actually killing anybody. Ha! Idiots!"

"Excellent," Medusa grinned. "Then they'll definitely try and find out how to create the stone as soon as possible. I'll get Crona to help them along; any hints or clues you want to give to the Elrics, I'll send through Crona."

"Good. Our plan is going right as scheduled." Lust turned back to the window and glanced at Medusa out of the corner of her eye. "And . . . our _deal_ is still standing, correct?"

"Of course," Medusa said. "Don't worry; I haven't forgotten."

"Good."

Lust started to chuckle darkly, and Medusa soon joined in as well. They then started to discuss the next step in their plan, their laughter still echoing around the room.

* * *

**A/N: Woot, we're now past Chapter 6! Just so you all know, this story is looking like it's going to be at least 10 chapters long, so don't worry about it ending anytime soon! Once I get a little closer to finishing it, I'll start putting the chapters up weekly, but for now you'll have to stick with a two-week update schedule! Sorry! ^.^**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wow, I can't believe I'm on Chapter 7 already! Well, it just gets more interesting from here on out, so enjoy! ^.^**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own any rights to any of the animes in this story. If I did, Al would still have his body, Haruhi and Tamaki would freakin' GET TOGETHER ALREADY, and Medusa wouldn't be such a . . . well, you know what I mean.**

**Chapter 7**

The next day, Ed and Al seemed to have a newfound interest in Crona; as soon as they had seen the shy boy that morning, the brothers had stuck by his side whenever they could, trying to get him to discuss his ability to see souls. While Crona was a little taken aback at their sudden enthusiasm, he was also pleased that they were being friendlier with him.

When Crona had refused to talk about his abilities at school (for fear that other people might hear and guess that something was up), Ed, Al, and Tamaki had invited him over to Tamaki's house to discuss his strange talents. After consulting with Medusa (who fervently encouraged him to go), Crona soon found himself sliding into Tamaki's sleek, black limo and heading over to the Host King's house.

"I'm so glad you could come over, Crona!" Tamaki said as the limo started to move. "I've been meaning to invite you over for a while, but I've just been so busy with Ed and Al . . ."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Ed exclaimed, and Al put a hand on his shoulder.

"Brother, calm down . . .," the suit of armor sighed, and Ed crossed his arms and pouted. The Host Club meeting that day had put him in a bad mood, since all of the girls had once again been cooing over how cute he was. Admittedly, he had sort of gotten used to it by this point, but the squeals seemed to have increased after the return of an otaku named Renge. She had been visiting France, but when she returned to Ouran she immediately stared assessing what "type" of Hosts Ed, Al, and Crona were, and just being generally annoying.

"Oh, you know what I meant, Ed," Tamaki said, used to Ed's fits. "Anyway, Crona, as I was saying, there's lots of stuff we can do at my house; we could play a game, or sit under a kotatsu, or I could give you a tour of the garden, or-"

"He's not here to play, Tamaki, he's here to talk about how he can see souls," Ed cut in, and Tamaki's shoulders slumped.

"Oh, right."

"Um, m-maybe you could give me a tour _after_," Crona suggested, and Tamaki's mood immediately brightened.

"Really?" he asked, and Crona nodded. "Wonderful! Oh, here we are now!"

The limo slowed to a stop and the boys climbed out, Crona marveling at the magnificent mansion. Tamaki led them inside to a sitting room and Ed flopped down on one of the couches like he owned the place. Al sat down next to him, pushing his brother's dirty shoes off of the pristine furniture. Crona sat down awkwardly on the couch across from them, and Tamaki took the chair in-between Crona and the brothers.

"So, Crona," Ed began, putting his hands on his knees and leaning towards Crona intently. "You have to tell us: how can you actually _see_ souls? I mean, what do they look like?"

"Um, well, I've always been able to see them, ever since I was little," Crona told him, gripping his arm nervously. He wasn't quite sure exactly how much to reveal about himself, and he didn't want to accidentally give away too much.

"So you were born with this ability?" Alphonse questioned.

"Yeah, I guess so . . ."

"And what do they look like?" Ed asked eagerly.

"Well, it's kind of a sphere with a little tail on it," Crona tried to explain, but everyone just looked confused. "Uh, maybe I could try and draw it . . ."

"Ah, hold on, I'll be right back!" Tamaki said, jumping up and running out of the room. He appeared a few seconds later with a sketchbook and some pencils and handed them to Crona, who proceeded to do a basic sketch of a circle with a squiggly tail coming out of the top.

"That's what it looks like," Crona said, tapping the drawing. "But I can usually only see this if the person is dead. Normally-"

"What do you mean 'if the person is dead?" Ed interjected. "Can you just go to a cemetery and they'll all be floating above the graves?"

"Well, no, they have to have died recently . . ."

"And you've seen people who've just died?"

Crona was silent, knowing that if he said "yes" he would have to tell them where he'd seen the dead bodies; he knew he couldn't tell them about Ragnarok's unnatural appetite for human souls and that he, Crona, was the one who had to supply them. Ed and Al stared at Crona questioningly until Tamaki spoke up.

"Guys, Crona obviously doesn't want to talk about that right now."

"Sorry if that was a touchy subject," Al apologized. "Anyway, does that mean you usually see something different?"

"Uh, kind of," Crona said cautiously, worried that he was accidentally going to let something slip. He hoped that Ragnarok would speak up if he went too far. "I can see people's soul wavelengths when they're alive, but it just looks like a glowing orb around the person's body. Sometimes, though, if the soul is really strong it will have some distinct marking on it. Once, I met this boy with these stripes-"

He suddenly stopped, snapping his mouth shut. He thought it would probably be best not to mention any encounters with Weapon Meisters to Ed, Al, and Tamaki.

After a moment of expectant silence, Ed sat up and stretched, guessing that he wasn't going to get much more out of Crona at this point.

"Well, that's some talent you got there," he said, grinning at Crona. "So, I'm guessing since you told us about your abilities, you want to know a little about ours, right? About how we can do alchemy, I mean."

"Oh, yes!" Crona exclaimed, not believing that this amazing opportunity had presented itself. The boys raised their eyebrows, surprised at Crona's enthusiasm. Crona shrunk down in his seat.

"I-I mean, if you really want to show me . . ."

The brothers nodded and stood up, saying that it would be best if they went outside so Al wouldn't have to draw a transmutation circle on Tamaki's lovely floors.

"I think you'll be impressed by their skills," Tamaki said to Crona as they walked towards the driveway. "I've seen them do alchemy before, and it's amazing! Ed doesn't even need a transmutation circle!"

"A transmutation circle . . .?" Crona said, not knowing what Tamaki was talking about. Before Tamaki could answer, the group reached the driveway, and Ed produced a piece of chalk from his pocket, which Alphonse promptly took and started to draw with on the black surface. Meanwhile, Ed ran around the side of the house and came back with a piece of firewood, which he then placed in the center of the circle when Al had finished drawing it.

"Alright, Crona, first thing you need to know about how alchemy works: most people need to use a transmutation circle, which is this thing that Al just drew," Ed explained, gesturing to the drawing. Crona tentatively stepped forward to examine it, noticing all of the intricate writing and designs that Alphonse had drawn.

"_I_ personally don't need to use one of these things," Ed continued. "But that's a whole other story. Anyway, so this circle . . . hones your alchemic powers, I guess you could say. That is, it enhances and enables you to control the power that's inside you, if you're an alchemist."

"Yes, but you have to actually _be_ an alchemist for this to work," Al took over, and Ed nodded in agreement. "Some people are born with an affinity for alchemy, while lots of other people aren't."

"I wasn't born with it," Tamaki muttered sourly, and Crona turned to see him pouting. "I tried to do alchemy, but it didn't work . . ."

"Well, you only heard of it a week ago," Ed said, rolling his eyes. "It's no surprise that you can't do it. But whatever, that's beside the point."

"Yeah, Crona, we'll just show you what we can do," Al said. He put raised his hands over the circle but then he paused. "Oh, and there's going to be some light and probably a little smoke given off, but don't be alarmed, okay?" Crona nodded warily, stepping back, and Al placed his hands on the circle.

After a few seconds, a light burst out from beneath his palms and engulfed the chunk of wood, and smoke started to spill out over the circle. Crona's eyes widened and he took a hasty step back, but Tamaki placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright," he said reassuringly, grinning. He gestured to the circle. "See?"

Crona glanced back at the circle as the smoke cleared and his eyes widened in surprise. In place of the block of wood, there was now a little wooden horse that could easily fit in the palm of someone's hand. Al picked up the horse and held it out to Crona, who cautiously took it.

"That's just a little taste of what alchemy can do," Ed said as Crona examined the horse. "As long as you have the right materials to start out with, you can make almost anything!"

"This . . . this is amazing," Crona said quietly. The only other type of person he knew who could do something like this was a witch, and he was positive that Ed and Al weren't magical in the least. He would have to tell Medusa about this later; maybe she could use this to her advantage . . .

"Crona, you should try it!" Tamaki said suddenly, startling everyone.

"Tamaki, didn't you hear Al's explanation a few minutes ago?" Ed said, looking at Tamaki like he was an idiot. "You can't just all of a sudden start doing alchemy; you have to be born with the skills. What makes you think _Crona_ can do it?" His brother gave him a chiding look.

"Ed, that was rude!"

"Oh, uh, no offense, Crona," Ed said quickly, but Crona hadn't seemed to notice his comment; he was gazing at the transmutation circle with fascination, wondering if he _could_ actually do alchemy. After all, he _was_ the son of a witch . . . but, then again, he was never really good at anything, so why would he be good at something like this?

"Well, you never know until you try, right, Crona?" Tamaki said, bringing Crona out of his thoughts. Crona looked at the transmutation circle uncertainly.

"Um, I guess . . .," he said. Tamaki placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, try it!" he urged.

"You know, actually, now that I think about it, Crona just might be able to do alchemy," Ed said, his forehead crinkled in thought. "I mean, he can _see souls_ after all . . . maybe he has some hidden, undiscovered alchemic powers!"

"Come over here, Crona," Al said, gesturing to the spot next to him on the driveway. "I'll help you!"

"Do it!" Ragnarok hissed in the back of Crona's mind. "You never know- you might actually turn out to have a useful talent!"

"Well, okay . . .," Crona said tentatively. He walked over to Alphonse and crouched down next to the armor. Ed waved his hand over the horse Crona placed in the circle and with a crackle of light it returned to its original form- a plain block of wood.

"Alright, Crona, here's how this is going to work," Al said as Ed and Tamaki sat down to watch. "It's really simple; put your hands on the circle and just imagine that block of wood breaking down and then reforming into the shape of, oh . . . let's say a dog this time."

"Aw, come on, Al; give him something simple to start out with!" Ed piped up. "How about a snake or something?"

"A s-snake . . .?" Crona said, his eyes widening as he thought of Medusa.

"Oh, you don't like snakes? Fine, then just stick with a dog. Whatever."

"Okay, a dog it is," Alphonse spoke up before his brother could make any more suggestions. He addressed the pink-haired boy next to him. "So, Crona, just put your hands on the circle and imagine the wood turning into the shape of a dog. If you can do alchemy, it should transform; but if you can't, nothing will happen. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so," Crona said, and Al nodded and scooted back to give him some more room.

Crona nervously put his hands on the circle, aware of everyone's eyes on him. He stared at the block of wood, envisioning it transforming into a wooden dog, putting all his focus on that image. Nothing happened for a few seconds and Crona was about to give up, when suddenly a huge cloud of light and smoke burst out from his fingertips, actually knocking Ed and Tamaki back a few inches. Crona gasped and stared at the center of the circle, frozen with amazement that something had actually happened.

When the smoke cleared a moment later, a detailed wooden dog was sitting where the block of wood had just been. Gingerly, Crona reached out and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.

"I . . . I did it . . .," he said quietly, still in shock. Ed, Al, and Tamaki crowded around him, all wanting to see what he'd made.

"Wow, look at it, Brother!" Al exclaimed. "That's pretty detailed for a first attempt!"

"Yeah, who knew Crona was an alchemist?" Ed said. He held out his hand. "Can I see it?"

Crona nodded and handed him the dog. Ed took it and walked a few feet away with his brother, marveling at the craftsmanship. Tamaki scooted over next to Crona, who was once again staring at the ground.

"You don't look too happy," Tamaki commented. Crona jumped, startled.

"What? Oh, no, it's just . . . I've never been able to do anything like that before. I don't know how to deal with it," Crona tried to explain. Tamaki noticed that the boy _did_ look a little shaken up. "Every time I've tried to do something like magic- er, alchemy when I wasn't told to, I was punished . . ."

Crona shivered at the memories and Tamaki put a tentative arm around his shoulders. Crona flinched but didn't make any attempt to push him away. Tamaki took this as a good sign that Crona was becoming a little less reserved.

"Your parents must've been very strict, huh?" Tamaki asked, and Crona shook his head ever so slightly.

"My mother . . . I've never really had a father . . .," Crona said, struggling to find the words to explain. He knew he was dangerously close to revealing too much, but Tamaki's comforting arm around his shoulders made Crona feel like spilling his heart out to the blonde, though he didn't know why.

"No father? Oh, you poor boy!" Tamaki exclaimed, a sympathetic expression on his face. "Well, then your mother must be a wonderful woman to raise you all by herself, am I right?"

"Well . . ."

"Hey, you'd better shut your mouth before you let something slip!" Ragnarok snarled in the back of Crona's mind. Crona immediately stopped talking and abruptly pushed Tamaki's arm away. The strange spell Tamaki seemed to have cast instantly vanished and Crona shook his head, wondering what that had been about.

He stood up and Tamaki followed suit, gazing at him worriedly. Tamaki opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Ed and Al came over to them.

"What were you guys talking about?" Ed asked, and Crona noticed Tamaki's face immediately brighten.

_He sure can hide his emotions fast,_ Crona thought, impressed that Tamaki was able to make it seem as if he hadn't been concerned about something just a few seconds ago.

"We were talking about Crona's mother," Tamaki informed Edward. Ed frowned at Crona.

"You're mother? What about your dad?" he asked. Crona gripped his arm and stared at the ground.

"I don't have one . . ."

"Just like you two!" Tamaki said, happy that he was able to make a connection between them. Ed rolled his eyes and Al cleared his throat.

"Well, not exactly," Al said kindly. "We _do_ still have a dad-"

"No we don't!"

"- he's just currently missing," Al continued, ignoring his brother's outburst. "But, as you already know, our mother is gone for good."

"Yeah, Crona, at least your mom's still around," Ed said, smiling sadly.

_That's not necessarily a good thing,_ Crona thought, but he didn't dare utter such a thought. Instead, he stayed silent and mentally scolded himself for thinking such a thing.

"Anyway," Ed said after a moment of awkward silence. "That dog you made was amazing, Crona! Really advanced for a first try! How about we work on making something else? Who knows- with training, your alchemic powers might even make it to State Alchemist level!"

"Uh, no, actually, I should probably be getting home," Crona said. Ed and Al seemed disappointed, but they said goodbye anyway. Tamaki offered to lend Crona a limo to get home, but Crona insisted that he could walk. He started to head down the driveway, waving to Ed, Al, and Tamaki until they were out of sight.

As Tamaki's mansion disappeared from sight, Crona wondered what Medusa would say when she learned that he could do alchemy. She would either be happy that he had a useful talent and implement it into her plans, or she would be angry and Crona would certainly get punished. Crona gripped his arm nervously; he would just have to wait and see . . .

* * *

**A/N: Ooh, another cliffhanger! Heh heh, I'm so evil . . . Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter! Oh, and I've been trying not to ask this very much, but please review! I'd love to hear your feedback on how you think this story is progressing!**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ah, I'm so sorry I'm late with this update! I've been doing _tons_ of stuff over the past few days, and when I finally got to take a break today I realized I hadn't updated this fanfic! Gomen! Ah, well, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I oweneth nothing.**

**Chapter 8**

Crona returned to the house he was staying at to find Medusa waiting for him. Normally, Medusa stayed in Suoh Mansion number one, but she had forbidden Crona to stay with her to avoid arousing suspicion; people would quickly start to question why Chairman Suoh had one day decided to take in a random child, and Medusa didn't want anyone to suspect that something was up. So, Crona was forced to stay in a nearby house by himself while its current residents were out on vacation, and Medusa rarely visited him there.

Therefore it came as quite a shock to Crona when he opened the door and saw Medusa sitting on the living room couch, chatting with an unfamiliar woman. They turned when they heard the door open and Medusa smiled at Crona.

"There you are! Come over here, Crona," she commanded, gesturing with her finger for him to come closer to her. He walked over and stopped in front of the couch, gripping arm and casting nervous glances at the unfamiliar woman. She had long, black hair, a low-cut dark green dress, and a strange tattoo in the center of her chest.

"Crona, this is Lust," Medusa said, gesturing to the woman, who smiled. Crona noticed that she had almost the same malicious grin as Medusa.

"Nice to finally meet you," Lust said, and Crona could only force himself to nod quickly.

"This is the woman I was telling you about- the one who sent Edward and Alphonse here so that they could create the philosopher's stone," Medusa explained. "She's going to be staying with us to help the Elrics behind the scenes."

Crona vaguely recalled Medusa telling him about a woman who was working with her in her plan to make the stone. He stared at Lust, wondering if she was a witch as well. Although, he was getting a different vibe from her soul wavelength than he got from Medusa's, so he didn't really believe that she _was_ a witch.

"Does he always stare at people he just met like this?" Lust asked, sounding bemused as Crona continued to look at her.

"Crona!" Medusa snapped, and the boy immediately shrunk away from her voice. Medusa smiled apologetically at Lust. "I'm sorry about him; he's . . . not a very social person."

"Oh, it's alright, he seems like a good kid," Lust commented. Medusa's gaze flicked to her son.

"Yes, he's been very good so far in helping our plan along," she said. There was silence for a moment, and then Medusa cleared her throat, bringing Crona's attention from the floor to her face.

"Well, Crona, if there's nothing you need to report to me, then I'd like to spend a little more time discussing things with Lust, so you can leave." The witch gestured to the doorway. Crona started to take a step towards it, but then he hesitated, gripping his arm tighter.

"Um, a-actually, Lady Medusa, there _is_ something I need to tell you . . .," he said slowly. Both Medusa and Lust sat up straighter, seeming interested.

"What is it?" Medusa prompted when Crona didn't continue.

"Uh . . ." Crona looked around nervously, as if searching for the words to tell her. Just as Medusa appeared to be getting annoyed, Ragnarok shot out of Crona's back, making the boy double over in pain. Lust jumped, startled by this sudden appearance, but Medusa reassured her.

"Don't be alarmed; it's just the Demon Sword I told you about," she explained, and Lust nodded in recognition.

"Ah, yes, I remember; you said he was a part of Crona's bloodstream."

"Yes, Ragnarok is his name."

"I see."

While this conversation was taking place, Ragnarok had once again taken to bullying his Meister.

"You idiot!" the Demon Sword yelled, tugging on Crona's hair. "Why don't you just tell her what you can do? Making her wait is just getting her angrier!"

"Ow, Ragnarok, don't pull my hair!" Crona whined, trying unsuccessfully to dislodge Ragnarok's hands from where they where clamped onto his pink locks. "If you pull too hard my hair will fall out, and I don't know how to deal with that!"

"Then just _tell her_ about your alchemy!"

"What's this about alchemy?" Lust asked, instantly tuning into their conversation.

"Uh-"

"Crona found out that he can do alchemy," Ragnarok cut in, knowing that his Meister wasn't going to be able to utter those words anytime soon. Said boy tensed, shooting Ragnarok a terrified look as Medusa and Lust's mouths fell open.

"Is this true?" Medusa asked, addressing her son. Crona nodded meekly, but the witch seemed unconvinced. "Show me."

"I . . . I can't . . .," Crona said quietly, and then he yelped and took a step back when Medusa stood up threateningly.

"What do you mean you _can't?"_ she snarled. "This is very important information! You'd better not be lying to me . . ."

"No, Lady Medusa, he _can_ do alchemy!" Ragnarok spoke up quickly, knowing that if Crona was punished, he would be as well. "What he's trying to say is that he needs a transmutation circle to show you! But he can do it; I saw it myself!"

"They're probably telling the truth," Lust said, standing up and putting a hand on Medusa's shoulder as the witch eyed Crona and Ragnarok suspiciously. "I only know of a few alchemists who don't need to use a transmutation circle- Edward Elric, for one- but it's pretty uncommon."

"That may be, but this is _Crona_ we're talking about," Medusa said, and Crona stared dejectedly at the floor. "He can't do anything except wield Ragnarok, and he even has issues with _that_ sometimes."

"Well, if he's your son, then that means he's the son of a witch," Lust pointed out. "You never know; maybe he has some untapped magic power that just manifested itself in the form of alchemy."

Medusa looked from Crona and Ragnarok to Lust, debating whether to believe them without any actual proof. Eventually, she sighed and sat back down on the couch.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it," she said, and Crona relaxed slightly. Medusa narrowed her eyes at him. "But you _will_ show me that you can do alchemy tomorrow."

"Yes, Lady Medusa," Crona agreed, bowing his head again.

"This can definitely work to our advantage," Lust commented, sitting down as well.

"Yes," Medusa agreed, her mouth curling up in a malicious grin. She gave her son a stern look. "Crona, Lust and I need to discuss this; go take a walk or something and come back in about two hours."

"Yes, Lady Medusa," Crona said again, wincing as Ragnarok disappeared into his back.

"Bye, Crona," Lust said, smiling slightly and making Crona very uneasy. With a quick wave, he hurried out of the house.

As Crona walked down the street, he realized that he had no idea of where he was going; the only places he really knew about were the school and Tamaki's house. The school would surely be closed for the evening by now, and he didn't want to just randomly show up at Tamaki's house.

_I suppose I could head over to the store,_ he thought, frowning, _But it's a little far, and I don't know if I'll have time . . . Come to think of it, I forgot to check what time it was when I left, I was in such a hurry-_

"Crona?"

A faint voice calling his name brought Crona out of his thoughts. He looked around and saw Haruhi standing across the street, waving to him. Crona blinked in confusion at Haruhi's outfit- a tan, knee-length dress that tied around Haruhi's neck over a light brown tank-top and a few random necklaces draped over everything. Crona had been under the impression that Haruhi was a boy- after all, the kid was in the _Host Club_- but now he was having second thoughts.

"Hey, Crona!" Haruhi said once she'd made her was across the street. "What are you doing out here?"

Crona just continued to stare at her.

"Haruhi, why are you wearing that outfit?" he managed to ask after a moment. "It's so . . . girly."

"Oh, right, I guess you haven't figured it out yet!" Haruhi laughed, making Crona even more confused. "Well, while I may be in the Host Club, I'm actually a girl. You see, I broke a really expensive vase from Ouran a while ago, and I have to pay it back somehow. As to why I'm paying it back _this_ way, well, that's kind of a long story."

Crona merely blinked as she finished her explanation, trying to absorb all of this information.

"So . . . you're _not_ a boy?" he asked after a few seconds. Haruhi smiled and shook her head.

"Nope. Sorry for confusing you," she apologized. She knew that Crona was already flustered enough as it is without having to process the fact that the person he'd thought was a boy for a little over a week was actually a girl.

"But . . . you're a Host . . . and a girl," Crona sputtered, looking utterly confused. "How . . . oh, I don't know how to deal with all of this!"

He clutched his head and sunk to his knees, not wanting to have to think about this revelation on top of all his other problems. Everything he was supposed to do and everything he had learned ran through his head at once: he had to find the pure soul and create the philosopher's stone; he had to become friends with the Elric brothers; he had to make sure not to blow his cover and reveal what he was up to while infiltrating the school; he found out that he could do alchemy, and Medusa was sure to ask him to do something with this talent for her plan; and now Haruhi was telling him that she was a girl.

When he got down to it, Crona realized that he had a lot to think about.

"Um, are you okay?" Haruhi asked hesitantly when Crona didn't move after a few minutes. She reached out to touch his shoulder, when suddenly she heard a car drive up and stop next to her. She looked up and realized that it was a sleek, black limo. She groaned, knowing that it belonged to at least one of the six other Hosts. Sure enough, the first thing she saw when the windows rolled down were two shocks of orange hair, followed by two identical grinning faces.

""Hi, Haruhi!"" the twins chorused, waving.

"Hey, guys," Haruhi replied, turning her attention back to Crona, who was staring up at the limo like a deer in headlights. Haruhi then realized that from his viewpoint, Crona couldn't see who was inside. Just as she was about to reassure him that it was just the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru poked their heads out of the window.

"Whoa, hey there, Crona!" Hikaru said, surprised to see Crona crouched on the ground.

"What are you doing down there?" Kaoru asked, raising one eyebrow. Crona slowly stood up, trying to push everything except what was happening right now to the back of his mind.

"Um, well, I was . . .," Crona trailed off, trying to think of what to say, but Haruhi stepped in to help him.

"He realized that I'm a girl and got a little overwhelmed," she explained. The twins gave Haruhi a condescending look.

"Well, you're not really doing much to hide that fact," Hikaru pointed out, eying her outfit.

"Yeah, why are you dressed like that anyway?" Kaoru asked.

_Not that we're complaining- she looks so cute!_ the twins both thought at the same time, but for once they didn't say what was on their minds.

"My dad made me wear it," Haruhi explained, rolling her eyes at the memory. "I just had to head out to the store, but he insisted that I wear this. He wouldn't let me out of the house otherwise."

""Yeah, we can see Ranka doing that,"" the twins nodded. They then looked at each other, grinned, and looked back at Haruhi and Crona.

"If you guys need a ride home, we'd be happy to give you a lift," Kaoru told them.

"No thanks, I'll be fine," Haruhi said, and the twins pouted.

"I'm sure Tono would say otherwise," Hikaru said. "He'd probably be worried about his darling daughter getting kidnapped."

"Yeah, by you two," Haruhi snapped back. "Seriously, guys, I'm fine."

"Alright, alright, whatever," Kaoru said. He looked at Crona. "What about you, Crona? You need a ride?"

"Where do you live, anyway?" Hikaru asked, and Crona immediately averted his gaze to the ground.

"Oh, around . . .," he said, remembering that Medusa had instructed him not to reveal where he was staying. The twins frowned at him.

""Around . . .?""

"Don't push him for information, guys," Haruhi spoke up. "You know he doesn't like it."

"Okay, okay, so do you need a ride or not?" Hikaru asked, grinning as Haruhi started to get worked up again. "Last chance . . ."

"Actually, I-I'm not going home," Crona said. "I'm supposed to stay out for two hours."

""Who told you to do _that?_"" the twins asked.

"And at this time of day- it's already dark out here!" Haruhi pointed out.

"Well, my m-mother said I had to," Crona explained, and the twins and Haruhi just stared at him.

"Whose mother tells their child to go out walking for two hours at night?" Hikaru asked.

"Especially when it's dark?" Kaoru added. Crona looked at the ground, gripped his arm, and started to bite his bottom lip. The twins realized that their questioning was getting to be too much for the boy to handle, so they backed off.

"Well, why don't you just ride around with us for a little while," Hikaru suggested. Crona glanced at him, his eyes wide.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose . . ."

"You're not imposing!" Kaoru assured him. "We just don't want you to be walking around in the dark for two hours."

"I'll go with you, if you want," Haruhi said, putting a hand on Crona's shoulder. The twins' faces immediately brightened.

""Haruhi, you'll come, too?""

"For Crona's sake, not yours," she snapped.

""Wah, Haruhi, you're so mean!"" they cried, their expression turning sad, but Haruhi could still see the spark in their eyes that let her know that they enjoyed aggravating her.

"Oh, stop crying," she said, and then she held out her hand to Crona. "Do you want to go?"

"We'll be sure to get you back in time," Kaoru reassured him as Hikaru opened the car door.

"Well, okay . . .," Crona said, somewhat reluctantly. He took Haruhi's hand a followed her into the limo, leaning over to avoid banging his head on the low doorframe.

The twins shut the door and motioned for the driver to go, and they were off. The twins tried to talk to Crona, but he seemed to be lost in thought once again, so they left him alone. Instead, they settled for asking Haruhi about commoner food, and what it was like to shop at a commoner supermarket. Crona managed to drown out their laughter and Haruhi's flat-toned answers as he thought about what Medusa and Lust were discussing.

All he knew was that whatever it was, it was going to involve him, and he had to be ready for anything. He could never tell what Medusa's plans were going to be, and he just hoped that this one wasn't _too_ out of his league . . .

* * *

After their alchemy lesson with Crona, Ed, Al, and Tamaki decided to head upstairs to get started on their homework. Not that Ed was actually planning on _doing_ it; after all, he was only going to be there temporarily, so why waste his efforts on homework when he could be searching for clues to the stone? He really wanted to find out more about this "pure soul" he and Alphonse had heard about right before they'd found themselves in this strange world. Heck, that was the reason they'd _went_ to Lab 5 in the first place! They claimed to be looking for a clue to the stone, but they'd never mentioned to anyone what that clue had been- Ed hadn't even told Roy Mustang when the Colonel had questioned him.

Edward and Alphonse had come across a mention of the pure soul in their research, and soon after had received a mysterious note directing them to the room in Lab 5 which had turned out to be a broom closet at Ouran Academy. The strange thing was, the note had had the symbol of a homunculus at the bottom, a detail which had greatly intrigued the brothers. They had ventured to Lab 5 with caution, unaware if it was a trap, but it had turned out to be not a trap, but . . . well, they still didn't really know what it had turned out to be. A portal to another dimension was Ed's guess, since there were things in this world that Ed and Al would never have even _dreamed_ of, like these things called "computers" that could connect to something called "the internet."

Ed was thinking of their sudden appearance in Tamaki's world as he opened the door to his room. However, as soon as he entered the room, he noticed something was wrong. It was cold- no, more than cold, it was _freezing_. Ed quickly deduced that this was caused by the open window next to the bed, the curtains billowing at every gust of wind. He wondered if one of Tamaki's maids had come in and opened the window, though why they would open it on such a cold night as this Ed had no idea.

Ed went over to the window and clamped it shut, shivering as one last gust of wind flowed through the room. He sat down on the bed and frowned when he noticed something white fall onto the floor. Curious, he picked it up and realized it was a note card. He turned it over and noticed a single line scribbled onto the card in black ink:

_Don't search too hard; the pure soul is closer than you think._

Under this sentence was a symbol that was all too familiar to the young alchemist: a dragon with two small wings forming a circle around three triangles covering three more upside-down triangles.

"The homunculi symbol!" Ed gasped, realized that it was the same writing as the one that had told him and Alphonse to go to Lab 5. He quickly jumped off the bed and ran to the door.

"Al! Al! Come here!" he called, flinging the door open and charging down the hallway, forgetting in his excitement that Alphonse's room was right next to his.

"Brother, what is it?" Al asked, coming out of his room. Ed showed him the note and he gasped in surprise. "I-it's the same as before!"

"Yeah, I know!"

"What's with all the yelling?" Tamaki questioned sleepily, emerging from his room and rubbing his eyes; apparently, he'd been taking a nap.

"Tamaki, check this out!" Ed said, thrusting the note in Tamaki's face. The Host King blinked, rubbed his eyes, and frowned, staring at the note.

"'Pure soul?' What does _that_ mean?" he asked. Ed clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"The pure soul! You know, the thing we're looking for! But more importantly, do you-"

"Brother," Al cut Ed off when Tamaki continued to stare at them in confusion. "We told him about our past, but we never told him why we're here _right now_, remember?"

"Oh, right," Ed said. He shrugged, grinning at Alphonse. "Well, I guess it's time for another explanation, right, Al?"

"Mm-hmm," Al nodded, and then the brothers turned to Tamaki.

"Tamaki, remember how we told you that we've been trying to restore our bodies, and we've found something that can help us achieve that goal?" Ed asked, and Tamaki nodded. "Well, it's called the philosopher's stone, and it's an object that people claim can defy the laws of alchemy and completely ignore the rule of equivalent exchange."

"There's something that can really do that?" Tamaki breathed, amazed.

"Some people believe so, but others are skeptical," Al explained. "Personally, the stone is the only hope we have at this point of reclaiming our original bodies."

"Yeah, but unfortunately everything has a price, and the stone is no different." Ed looked at the ground sourly. "To create the stone, you need human sacrifices- lots and lots of human sacrifices."

"That's horrible!" Tamaki gasped, putting his hands to his mouth. Ed laughed cynically.

"Yeah, well, alchemy isn't always as innocent as making little horses out of wood," he said, and Tamaki could hear the bitterness in his voice.

"Anyway," Alphonse spoke up, knowing his brother was starting to feel the regrets of their past once again. "When we found out what it took to create the stone we were devastated, naturally. We could never sacrifice hundreds of lives just to get our two insignificant bodies back . . ."

"Hundreds . . .?" Tamaki echoed, his face paling at the thought of that many people perishing to create just one object.

"Yup, hundreds," Ed confirmed, having regained his composure. "So, we started looking for other ways to get our bodies back. After searching for weeks, Al and I stumbled across the mention of something called the 'pure soul.' It piqued our interest, so we started doing some research on it.

"We came to find that it wasn't a thing, but a _person,_ and more specifically, a person that had something to do with the philosopher's stone. You see, by creating the stone by using the pure soul, only one soul would be lost; the pure soul is so powerful that it can create the stone all by itself, without needing to sacrifice any other souls."

"So we figured that if we found the pure soul, we'd be able to create the stone without taking hundreds of lives!" Alphonse finished the explanation. Tamaki was silent for a moment as he processed all of the information.

"But, if this is all true, then you'll still need to sacrifice the pure soul- a human life," he pointed out, frowning. "Surely you wouldn't . . ."

"Of course we wouldn't kill anyone!" Ed snapped, not believing that Tamaki would even _think_ such a thing. "Once we find the pure soul, we'll figure out a way to make the stone without actually killing them. We're not quite sure how at this point, but we'll figure it out eventually! Right, Al?"

"Right," Al agreed. Ed glanced at Tamaki and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Although, at this point we're not exactly sure how to even _find_ the pure soul." He laughed. "That's how we ended up here- we heard there was a clue to the pure soul, and in turn the philosopher's stone, in this room at a place called Lab 5, and like we explained before, when we went through the door we ended up at your school."

"So now you finally have the whole story," Alphonse said. He chuckled at Tamaki's lost expression. "Sorry, too much information at once?"

"No, no, I'm alright, I just . . . wow, I mean . . . that must be one powerful soul if it can take the place of hundreds," Tamaki said, and Ed and Al nodded. Tamaki then glanced down at the card still clutched in Edward's grip. "So, what's so important about that card then?"

"Well, besides the fact that someone obviously knows more about finding the pure soul than we do, this symbol is the mark of a homunculus." Ed tapped the symbol at the bottom of the note card, and Tamaki stared at it questioningly.

"'Homunculus?'"

"They're artificial humans," Al explained. "Beings created from the bodies of people brought back to life through alchemy."

"Oh," Tamaki said. He wondered if Ed and Al's mother had been turned into a homunculus, but he didn't want to ask; he was already overloaded with information as it was. Plus he didn't think the brothers would really want to talk about it. So, he just settled for asking: "What do they have to do with the pure soul?"

"It's not so much the pure soul that they have to do with as it is the stone," Ed informed him. "They want to use the stone to turn themselves 'human.' They've realized that we wanted to create the stone as well and have been following us ever since. One of them must've followed us here . . ."

"But can't they just make the stone and find the pure soul themselves?" Tamaki asked as Ed muttered a curse under his breath. Alphonse shook his head.

"No. They can't do alchemy."

"Oh," Tamaki said again. After a moment of silence, Ed tightened his grip on the note and looked at Al and Tamaki, his gaze determined.

"We've gotta find out who left the note," he told them. "It might not even be a homunculi; it could be someone working with them, or someone just using their symbol to try and fool us. Whoever it is, they know how to find the pure soul. Come on, Al, let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Tamaki exclaimed, grabbing Ed's arm as the boy started to walk towards the stairs. "Where are you going at this time of night?"

"Out to town," Ed replied, trying to pry Tamaki's hands off but failing. "We have to see if anyone knows where the homunculus or whoever left the note is! Maybe someone in town will!"

"You can't leave _now_!" Tamaki said, knowing that it wasn't safe to be walking around at night, no matter how nice his neighborhood was. "It's already dark outside!"

"I don't care! Let _go!"_ Ed tried once again to jerk his arm out of Tamaki's grip, but the tall blonde refused to let go. Ed could swear he heard the creaking of straining metal.

_Thank god it's auto mail,_ Ed thought,_ or my arm probably would've been wrenched out of its socket a while ago. Once again, I've gotta admire Winry's handiwork._

"Brother, I think Tamaki has a point," Al piped up, and Ed glared at him. "Think about it! Everybody's probably gone home by now; we should just wait until tomorrow when everyone's out and about."

Ed stared into his brother's glowing eyes for a minute, and then sighed, defeated by common sense once again.

"Alright, fine, we'll wait until tomorrow."

"Yay!" Tamaki exclaimed, happy that Ed and Al would be safe for the night. He gave Ed a hug, actually lifting the boy off the ground a few inches.

"HEY! Put me _down_, will you?" Ed yelled, and Al started laughing. Tamaki released him and Ed dropped to the floor, landing on his feet with a grunt.

"Ah, sorry, _mon ami_!" Tamaki apologized. Ed straightened out his shirt, glared at Tamaki, and started to head towards the stairs.

"Where are you going now, Ed?" Al asked. Without looking back, Ed replied:

"The kitchen. I'm starving!"

And with that he descended the grand staircase, his mind buzzing with questions about who had left that note and, if it really was a homunculus, why they didn't just contact him directly instead of leaving secret letters. It was all very strange . . .

* * *

**A/N: Woot, Chapter 8 is done! Look foward to the next chapter in two weeks! And review, please! ^.^**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: AH, I'M SO SORRY THIS IS LATE! I thought I'd already updated it, but when I checked today I realized that I hadn't! Gomen! Anyway, this chapter is a little different from the previous ones. I want to warn you all now that there will be some "sweet" moments between Tamaki and Crona, but this fic is in NO WAY intended to be a TamakiXCrona pairing. There is not meant to be any yaoi _at all_ in this fanfic, just some very close friendships. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story.**

**Chapter 9**

When Crona returned home two hours later, Medusa and Lust were nowhere to be found. He reasoned that they must have gone back to the main mansion, so he got ready for bed and started to worry if he really _would_ be able to show Medusa that he could do alchemy the next day; for all he knew, it could have just been some weird fluke when he'd tried it at Tamaki's house, and he actually _couldn't _do alchemy at all.

He tried to push these worries out of his mind the next day when he went to ask Ed and Al if they could show him how to write a transmutation circle. The day was so hectic that Crona didn't get a chance to ask the brothers about this until they were all once again seated in Tamaki's limo on the way to the Host King's house.

Ed and Al told Crona that they would be happy to show him how to write a transmutation circle. However, much to Crona's dismay, they had to go out to town for a little while- though they wouldn't tell him why-, and Crona would have to wait for them to come back to Tamaki's house. When they promised that they would be back after a few hours, Crona reluctantly agreed to wait at Tamaki's house and waved goodbye when Ed and Al stepped out of the limo at the entrance to the town square.

Thus, Crona was left with Tamaki for the next few hours. This made Crona nervous; he recalled the weird feelings he got around Tamaki, about wanting to spill his heart out, and was afraid that he might accidentally reveal something to the blonde that he shouldn't. He wanted to go to his temporary home and wait for Ed and Al to come back, but Ragnarok convinced him that there was no point in this, so before Crona knew it he was once again exiting the limo at Suoh Mansion Number 2.

"I'm so glad you could come over again, Crona!" Tamaki said enthusiastically as he led the pink-haired boy up the stairs towards his room. "Now I can finally give you that tour of my house that we never got around to yesterday!"

"Um, yeah, right," Crona said absently, already wondering when Ed and Al would be back. Tamaki led him into a large room with a king-sized bed, a large closet, lots of furniture, and a beautiful, bay window that had an amazing view of the gardens surrounding the mansion. Crona stared out the window in wonder, transfixed by all of the vibrant colors of the flowers.

"Oh, Crona?" Tamaki said, bringing the boy's attention back to him. "I have to go tell the servants something, but I'll be back in a few minutes. Will you be okay on your own for a little bit?"

"Oh, yes, I'll be fine," Crona said, and Tamaki smiled.

"Okay then! Feel free to have a look around; I don't mind! Be back in a bit!"

And with that he bounded out of the room, leaving Crona all alone.

As Crona gazed around the room, he noticed a picture on the dresser by Tamaki's bed. Curious, he picked it up and examined it. It was a woman with long, wavy blonde hair and soft blue eyes. She was very beautiful, and on closer inspection Crona realized that she resembled Tamaki quite a lot.

Just then, Crona heard footsteps running up the stairs, and said boy came jogging back into the room.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, smiling. He walked over and saw what Crona was holding. "Oh, so you found that, huh?"

"Who is she?" Crona asked. "She looks so much like you . . ."

"That's my _maman,_ my mother," Tamaki replied, and Crona glanced at him. Though he was still smiling, Crona could detect a hint of sadness in the blonde's eyes.

"Did . . . did something happen to her?" Crona asked tentatively, afraid he was going to accidentally upset him. Tamaki gazed at the picture and shook his head ever so slightly.

"No, I . . . She lives in France, so I don't get to see her very often," Tamaki told him. He cleared his throat and Crona could swear he saw Tamaki's eyes starting to water a little bit.

"Do you miss her?" Crona questioned. There seemed to be more to the story than Tamaki was telling him, but he didn't want to press too much for information. Tamaki let out a slight, almost sad chuckle and nodded.

"Yes, I do miss her. Very much." After a few more seconds of staring at the picture longingly, Tamaki blinked and looked at Crona, grinning again. "But it's okay, because I love her with all my heart and I know she loves me just the same, so no matter how far apart we are we'll always be connected by our hearts!"

As Crona stared into Tamaki's eyes, filled with obvious adoration for his mother, that feeling of spilling his heart out started to overtake him again. However, this time it was slightly different; instead of wanting to tell Tamaki absolutely _everything_, Crona could only seem to focus on Medusa, and how little she cared for him as opposed to how much Tamaki's mother must care for _her_ son if they had such a strong bond between them.

To Crona's great surprise, as these thoughts ran through his head, he started to feel a dampness in the corners of his eyes.

"Crona, what's wrong?" Tamaki asked, getting concerned when the boy started to tear up. He'd never shown this much emotion before, so Tamaki wondered if he had done something to set him off. "Did talking about my mother upset you?"

Tamaki gently gripped Crona's shoulders and Crona stared at him, the tears threatening to fall.

"You love your mother so much," Crona said, and Tamaki frowned, wondering what he was trying to get at. "And I'm sure she loves you just the same. My mother . . . no matter how hard I try, I just . . . I can never make her love me!"

_Ah, so the truth finally comes out,_ Tamaki thought as Crona's resistance finally crumbled and he broke down. The tears streamed down his face and he gripped his arm tightly, dropping the picture of Tamaki's mother. Tamaki caught it before it hit the floor and then turned back to Crona, who had started to talk through his sobs.

"She . . . s-she wants me to do s-so much, and I . . . I try hard, b-but . . . I can never do a-anything right!" he blubbered. "N-no matter what I do, she's never shown me any l-love! I . . . I can't deal with it anymore!"

"Aw, come on now, I'm sure deep down she loves you a lot, even if she doesn't show it," Tamaki tried to reassure him, but Crona shook his head vehemently.

"No, she doesn't! N-no matter how hard I try . . . I-I'm always being punished!"

"But I'm sure-"

"_You don't know what I've been through!"_ Crona suddenly yelled, startling Tamaki. He looked more tortured than Tamaki had ever seen him before, which greatly unnerved the blonde.

"All the things she's put me though . . . all the pain I've had to endure . . . and all the times I've had to deal with _him_ . . . you just don't know," Crona finished in a whisper. Tamaki merely stared at him, his mouth open slightly.

"Crona, I . . .," Tamaki tried to console him, but for once he was at a complete loss of what to say. There was a darker side to Crona that he'd known nothing about, and it pained Tamaki to see the shy boy hurting so badly.

Slowly, so as not to startle the still-sniffling boy, Tamaki took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Crona's shoulders, hugging him tightly.

Crona let out a gasp of surprise and immediately started to struggle in Tamaki's grip, but after a moment his eyes refilled with tears and he buried his face in Tamaki's chest, sobbing as Tamaki whispered comforting words in his ear.

"There, it's alright; let it all out. You're going to be fine. Everything's going to be okay. Oh, _vous enfant pauvres et torturé*****_ . . . If I'd have known what you've been going though earlier, I would've helped you sooner . . ."

Tamaki waited a moment for Crona to calm down some and then released him from the hug. He gripped Crona's shoulders and stared into the boy's face.

"Crona, look at me," he said, and Crona gazed at him, still crying slightly. "Listen to me: no matter what you've gone through in the past, or what you're going through now, I want you to know that I'll be there for you no matter what from here on out."

Crona gaped at him, not believing what the blonde was saying; nobody had ever cared about him before, so why should _Tamaki,_ the _Host King,_ of all people?

"But, I-I've only known you for about a week!" Crona pointed out, trying to make Tamaki see how illogical he sounded. Tamaki shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he said firmly, squeezing Crona's shoulders. "As a member of the Host Club, and because of my own beliefs, I strive to help others in need whenever I can. And right now, I think you need my help more than anyone else."

"But . . . but _why_?"

"Because you're my friend, _mon ami_." Tamaki smiled. "Aren't you?"

"Well . . . yes, I-I guess so . . .," Crona admitted. However, he was still having a hard time processing what Tamaki was saying. "But . . . no one's ever been friendly to me before . . . I scare everyone away, so no one likes me . . ."

"That's not true!" Tamaki said, surprised. "I don't think you're scary at all, and I like you a lot!"

"But . . . I'm so strange; no one understands me . . . there's things about me that if you knew about, you'd run away screaming." Crona's forlorn eyes were haunted, but Tamaki paid no attention to them.

"No, I wouldn't." Tamaki took Crona's hands in his and gazed firmly into the shy boy's eyes. "Everyone has something they don't want people to know about. But just because you don't want people to know about it doesn't make it scary or weird or anything."

"But-"

"Crona listen to me. No matter what secret you have that you don't want to tell me, I'll always be there for you. You are a dear friend to me, and I always take care of my friends. If there's one thing in your life you can be sure of, it's that fact."

After a few seconds of Crona continuing to stare at him blankly, Tamaki once again gripped Crona in a hug. However, much to Tamaki's delight, this time the blonde met no resistance.

"Y-you . . . you really care about me?" Crona said, squeezing his eyes shut to hold back the tears that were once again starting to cloud his vision. Only this time, they weren't tears of sadness.

"Yes, I do," Tamaki said into Crona's shoulder. "Even if no one ever has before, I want you to know that I _do_ care about you, Crona."

He released Crona from the hug, gripped his shoulders again, and smiled, his eyes full of sincerity, and Crona felt the corners of his mouth being tugged upwards as well.

"Now, about your mother . . .," Tamaki started to say, but he instantly regretted it; as soon as he'd mentioned Crona's mother, the ghost of a grin that had been threatening to light up the shy boy's face had instantly vanished. Tamaki mentally berated himself for not giving Crona a chance to show his true smile.

Crona gulped and looked at the floor. He started to shake when he realized what he'd just done; he'd just revealed how he truly felt about Lady Medusa. Not only that, he'd also come dangerously close to telling Tamaki about Ragnarok, which would certainly _not_ have been a good thing.

"Crona, it's alright," Tamaki said, squeezing the boy's shoulder again. He frowned. "Is your mother really that horrible?"

"Oh, no! She's not horrible at all, um . . .," Crona sputtered, frantically trying to cover up what he'd just said. Tamaki's expression hardened.

"You don't have to cover up for her; if she's done anything to you, anything at all, please tell me. I can get you out of there and into a much better environment to live in- my dad has connections that can help us with this."

"Y-you're dad?" Crona squeaked, remembering that Tamaki's father was currently being controlled by Medusa. "No, please don't tell him! I . . . I'll be okay, really!"

"If you're _this_ scared of what's going to happen, I don't think you're going to be okay without some help," Tamaki told him. "I don't mean to offend you, but it seems to me that you're not able to stand up to your mother very much, am I right?"

"W-well . . ." Even though Crona knew this was true, he didn't want to admit it; he'd said way too much already.

"Crona, please-"

Just then, the front door of the house suddenly slammed open and shut, bringing the boys out of their discussion. Tamaki looked out the doorway of his room, and Crona took this momentary distraction as a chance to gently brush Tamaki's hands away from his shoulders. Tamaki glanced back at him, his eyes filled with sympathy and concern.

"Hey, guys, we're back!" Ed's voice came floating up the stairs.

"I still want to talk to you about this, but we can finish discussing it later; I'm guessing you don't want Ed and Al to know about it, right?" Tamaki asked, and Crona shook his head. Tamaki smiled kindly.

"I'll use everything in my power to help you get through this, so don't get too down, okay, Crona?"

Crona nodded and Tamaki turned to go find Ed and Al. As Tamaki started to walk away, Crona suddenly got the strongest feeling that he didn't want the blonde to leave.

"Tamaki!" he called out, reaching towards him.

"Hmm? What is it?" Tamaki asked, turning back to him. Realizing how strange he was acting, Crona dropped his hand to his side and gripped his arm instead.

"Um, nothing . . .," he said, looking at the ground. Tamaki gazed at him for a moment, and then shrugged and started to walk away again.

"Wait!" Crona exclaimed, and Tamaki glanced back to find the boy staring at him seriously.

"Um . . . t-thank you," Crona said quietly. When Tamaki smiled questioningly, he elaborated. "For caring about me, I mean. No one . . . no one's ever really done that before."

"Ah, _mon ami,_ you don't have to thank me!" Tamaki laughed. "As I said before, I'm here for you from here on out!"

"Thank you anyway, Tamaki." A weight felt like it had been lifted off of Crona's shoulders as what Tamaki was saying finally sunk in.

There was at least one person in Crona's lonely world that cared about him.

It was a wonderful feeling.

Slowly, Crona's mouth turned up in a smile. It was small, but when Tamaki saw it, he clapped his hands together and grinned even wider, knowing that this was Crona's rare, _true_ smile.

Just then, the boys heard light footsteps bounding up the stairs, followed by heavier, clanking ones. Tamaki turned to the doorway for just a moment, but when he looked back at Crona, the smile was gone, having been replaced by the boy's normal, slightly terrified look.

"There you guys are!" Ed said, grinning as he entered the room, followed closely by Alphonse.

"Hello, Ed, Al!" Tamaki said, his expression instantly brightening, and Crona had to once again admire how quickly Tamaki could hide his negative emotions.

"'Sup, Crona?" Ed said, giving Crona a quick wave.

"Oh, nothing . . .," the pink-haired boy said quietly, looking down at the floor.

"You two are back a lot earlier than I expected," Tamaki commented. "Did you find out any information you were looking for?"

Edward's shoulders sagged, and Alphonse shook his head.

"No," the suit of armor sighed. "We asked everyone we could, but no one recognized the symbol, or had seen any suspicious people walking around that could've been a homunculi."

"Um, what _were_ you two looking for exactly?" Crona asked tentatively, not sure if they would want to tell him. Ed and Al glanced at each other for a second, debating how much to tell him, and then Ed shrugged and pulled a note card out of his pocket.

"We might as well fill him in," the alchemist said, walking over to Crona and holding out the card. "I found this note on my pillow last night; apparently, someone snuck through my window and put it there . . ."

"'P-pure soul?'" Crona squeaked, reading the note. He let out a gasp of surprise when he saw the symbol at the bottom; it was the same one that had been tattooed on Lust's chest.

"Oh _Crona_~" Ragnarok said in a singsong voice, surfacing in the back of Crona's mind. Crona flinched when Ragnarok's tone turned threatening. "You'd better not open your _damn mouth_ anymore, you got that? You already said too much during your little cry-fest earlier! For some reason, I couldn't get through to you to make you shut up . . ."

"Yes, Ragnarok," Crona said quietly, staring at the floor again.

"_And don't say my name aloud when there's people around, you damn idiot!"_ the Demon Sword hissed, making Crona wince again.

"Um, are you feeling okay, Crona?" Alphonse asked when the boy kept wincing. Crona stared at him with wide eyes and nodded slowly.

"Yeah. I'm fine." His gaze flickered to the card again. "Um, w-what's this symbol at the bottom?"

"It's the symbol of a homunculus," Ed informed him. When Crona frowned questioningly, he elaborated. "An artificial human; aka a being created when someone tries to use alchemy to bring people back from the dead."

"Back from the dead?" Crona echoed, his forlorn eyes wide. "You can do that?"

"Well, not really," Ed confessed, looking down at the floor. Tamaki put a reassuring hand on Ed's shoulder and Alphonse stepped in for the explanation, knowing that his brother didn't feel like talking about it again.

"You can't _actually_ bring anyone back," the suit of armor explained solemnly. "There are lots of people who've tried to bring their loved ones back, but it never works; sure, you can get all the ingredients that make up a human being easily enough, but the one thing you can't get back is the person's _soul_. Without their soul, a person is basically nothing."

"Oh," was all Crona said as he digested this information. If Lust was a homunculus, then that meant she had basically been brought back from the dead . . . Crona shivered as he thought about who in the world would try to bring someone back to life, knowing that it wasn't possible.

"Alright, it's getting_ way_ too gloomy in here!" Ed announced suddenly, startling Crona. Ed grinned and clapped the shy boy on the shoulder. "So, you wanted to know how to make a transmutation circle, huh? Well, let's go outside and we'll show you, okay?"

Crona nodded and he, Tamaki, and Alphonse followed Ed through the house and out to the driveway, where Ed and Al proceeded to explain the mechanics of drawing a transmutation circle. After about forty-five minutes, Crona had gotten the basic circle down, and told the boys that he had to get home. Al drew a copy of the circle on a sheet of paper for Crona to look off of when he tried it at home, and they sent the boy on his way. As Ed and Al headed back into the house, Crona heard someone running behind him and turned to see Tamaki waving for him to stop.

"Um, i-is there something wrong, Tamaki?" Crona asked once Tamaki had caught up. The blonde was about to shake his head, but then he paused.

"Listen, Crona, _please_ don't hesitate to call me if there's any trouble," he said, putting his hands on Crona's shoulders again. The concern was obvious in his violet eyes, and Crona gripped his arm and stared at the ground, once again feeling a pang of remorse at what he'd revealed earlier.

"Okay," he said quietly, and Tamaki wished he could do more for this poor child, wished he could just take him away from the home that was obviously causing him so much pain . . . but the blonde knew he couldn't. All he could do was give Crona's shoulder one last reassuring squeeze and send him on his way, hoping that Crona would take his advice and ask for help soon. Tamaki would just have to keep an eye on him until then.

Crona felt Tamaki's eyes on his back all the way down the driveway. He gripped the drawing of the transmutation circle tighter, wishing that he could tell Tamaki everything but knowing that he couldn't. Ragnarok wouldn't tell Medusa what Crona had revealed already, Crona knew, because then the Demon Sword would be punished as well. But, if Crona let anything else slip, then Tamaki might tell his father- which would mean he would be repeating what Crona had said straight to Medusa's face.

And if Medusa found out what Tamaki knew, then the blonde might be hurt as well . . .

Crona paused in the middle of the sidewalk, a slight frown crossing his face. Why did he just think that? Why was _he_ concerned whether Tamaki got hurt or not? Just because Tamaki said he was his friend didn't mean _that_ much . . . did it?

_I mean, yes, it felt nice to hear that he cares about me,_ Crona thought, recalling how Tamaki had actually made him smile- and genuinely, at that. _But I really shouldn't be making friends; I'll just have to leave them sooner or later . . ._

He heaved a sigh. It seemed that no matter what he did, anyone he came across either got left behind as Medusa's plans moved on, or ended up dead.

Crona shivered. At least he hadn't been ordered to kill anyone so he could feed their souls to Ragnarok . . . yet.

_Oh, I hope we move on before that happens,_ Crona thought, starting to walk again. He really had no desire to use his weapon anytime soon, let alone murder anyone in this innocent little town.

He shook his head to clear away these depressing thoughts and instead tried to focus on his next task: drawing a transmutation circle for Medusa and showing her that he could do alchemy. He un-crumpled the drawing Alphonse had given him and studied it all the way to his temporary house. When he got to the door he paused for a moment to brace himself, and then he turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

* * *

"This had better work, Crona," Medusa snapped, a slight frown creasing her lips. She was watching her son as he put the last few finishing touches on the transmutation circle. They were standing in the living room, having moved the rugs and furniture to reveal the hardwood floor underneath.

"Yes, Lady Medusa, it will," Crona said. He placed the chalk he had been drawing with on the ground, and then he winced as Ragnarok appeared out of his back.

"You'd better not mess this up, idiot!" the Demon Sword sneered, poking Crona in the cheek.

"Ragnarok, don't distract him," Medusa said, and Ragnarok immediately let go of Crona to stare at her. "Remember, _you_ assured me that he could do this, so if he's lying then that means _you're_ lying, too . . . and you know I don't take kindly to liars."

"Sorry, Lady Medusa!" Ragnarok said quickly, and then, after giving Crona one last pinch on the cheek, he disappeared into his Meister's back. Medusa stepped away from the transmutation circle and clasped her hands behind her back, gazing at Crona.

"Alright, show me," she commanded. Crona gulped, nodded, and turned to the transmutation circle. With sweaty hands, he placed the chunk of wood he'd picked up outside in the center of the circle. He took a deep breath, trying unsuccessfully to calm his nerves, and put his hands on the edge of the circle. He stared hard at the block of wood and envisioned it turning into a dog like before, putting all his energy into that image.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, and Crona started to panic. What if he'd been wrong? What if he couldn't do alchemy anymore? Medusa would be so angry . . .

Just then, a bright light burst forth from beneath Crona's hands. Medusa stared, transfixed, as the light traveled throughout the circle and engulfed the block of wood. After a moment, the light dispersed, leaving a little wooden dog in the chunk of wood's place.

Medusa rushed over and grabbed the dog, scrutinizing all of its details. Crona sat back and gripped his arm, hoping that the dog would meet Medusa's approval.

"Very good, Crona," Medusa said, a slow grin spreading across her face. Crona let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in a huge sigh of relief. He looked up at Medusa, who turned towards him.

"This will make our plan _much_ easier," she commented. "We practically don't even _need_ those Elric brothers anymore; _you_ can make the transmutation circle for the pure soul! Now we just need to find it . . ."

"Um, L-Lady Medusa . . .?" Crona said tentatively, and Medusa glanced at him. "What exactly am I going to have to do?"

"I'll tell you that later," the witch replied. She smiled and placed a hand on Crona's shoulder, making the boy stiffen."But I do have some _other_ news; Lust and I have figured out a way to find the pure soul!"

"Really?" Crona asked, surprised, and Medusa nodded.

"Lust and I combined all of our information on the pure soul and the philosopher's stone and came up with a potion that, if consumed, will give a clear indication of who the pure soul is. Of course, we're not going to be able to test it beforehand, so we have to hope it works . . . and that's where _you_ come in."

Crona gripped his arm nervously, wondering what he'd have to do. Medusa moved in front of him and crouched down so she could look into his face.

"Now listen very carefully, Crona," she instructed, and Crona did his best not to avert his gaze to the floor. "Once I get this potion made, it's going to be _your_ job to make sure that everyone in that Host Club of yours drinks it. If no one in that club turns out to be the pure soul, than you'll just have to try and give it to the rest of the school. But just stick to the Host Club for now. Do you understand, Crona?"

"Yes, Lady Medusa," Crona said, and then he frowned slightly. "But, um . . . h-how am I supposed to know who the pure soul is?"

"The potion will have a bitter taste to everyone but the pure soul," Medusa explained. "The person who doesn't immediately spit it out is the person you're looking for."

"Okay," Crona said, making a mental note of this fact.

"However, we'll still need a few days to actually _make_ the potion- Lust is out gathering the ingredients now-, so you'll have to wait a little longer before you can give it out."

Crona nodded and then flinched as Medusa stood up suddenly. The witch narrowed her eyes at him.

"Make sure not to do _anything_ that would blow our cover," she said, and Crona blanched.

_She knows,_ he thought. _She somehow found out what I told Tamaki . . ._ His breathing sped up and his heart started pounding as he tried to guess what Medusa was going to do to him.

"You're acting jumpier than usual," Medusa remarked, and Crona tried to brace himself for his punishment. His mother placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it pointedly. "I just wanted to make sure you're being careful; _don't_ mess this up."

And with that, she turned and walked towards the door. Crona stared after her, confused.

"I'll come by again tomorrow," Medusa said as she turned the doorknob. Without giving Crona a second glance, she exited the house and slammed the door behind her.

Crona gazed at the closed door for a few seconds, bewildered. Maybe Medusa _hadn't_ realized what he'd told Tamaki . . .

"Well, _that_ was a lucky break!" Ragnarok commented, forming out of Crona's back and leaning on his Meister's head.

"I thought she knew what I'd said to Tamaki . . .," Crona said, feeling slightly relieved.

"She was suspicious, that's for sure." Ragnarok put his fists on both sides of Crona's head and squeezed. "You're such an idiot! I can't believe you let your feeling slip out like that! If that blonde idiot tells his 'dad,' we're dead meat!"

"He won't; he told me he wouldn't!" Crona exclaimed, trying vainly to push Ragnarok's hands away. The Demon Sword laughed scornfully.

"'He told me he wouldn't!'" he repeated mockingly. He grabbed Crona's hair and tugged the boy's head back, eliciting a whine of pain. "You'd better hope this guy is as much of a saint as you say he is, because _I_ don't feel like getting punished because _you_ put too much trust in someone!"

"Ow, stop it, Ragnarok!" Crona cried. The Demon Sword continued to grip his hair for a few more seconds and then released him, once again disappearing into his back.

Crona sniffed dejectedly, staring at the floor. He knew he shouldn't have put so much confidence into believing that Tamaki would keep his mouth shut, but for some reason he couldn't seem to find any doubt in what Tamaki had told him. If the Host King said he wouldn't reveal Crona's secret feelings, then Crona had every confidence that the blonde would stick to his word.

Crona sighed and stood up. He grabbed the edge of the rug that had haphazardly been pushed to the side and pulled it over the transmutation circle, all the while wondering who the pure soul would turn out to be . . .

* * *

*** you poor and tortured child**

**A/N: The next chapter will be up on time! In the meantime, review please!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Good news: I'm almost finished writing the ending to this story! Don't worry, it'll still be a few more chapters, but now it will be updated weekly instead of every two weeks! I hope you guys enjoy! ;)**

**Chapter 10**

_Three days later . . ._

It had been three days since Medusa had told Crona of her solution to finding the pure soul, and Crona was walking through the doors to Music Room 3 armed with the freshly-brewed potion. Medusa hadn't mentioned where she'd found a place inconspicuous enough to make the potion- or how she'd managed to make it look and smell just like tea-, but Crona had had no real desire to ask. He'd been assured that the potion wouldn't actually _hurt_ anyone, and that was all the information he needed to be content.

After all, Crona really didn't really _want_ to hurt any of the Hosts- not since they'd been so nice to him. Even the distant and calculating Kyoya had shown him a bit of compassion the other day. Of course, Crona knew that he'd _have_ to hurt them if Medusa instructed him to, but he was relieved that the potion was harmless- the worst it would do was leave a bad taste in their mouths.

So, it was with curious anticipation that Crona pulled the mug of "tea" out of his bag and offered it to Tamaki.

"It's homemade tea," Crona explained as Tamaki eyed the mug questioningly. "I, um . . . I thought we could s-serve it to our guests." Crona jumped when Tamaki suddenly gasped and clapped his hands together, grinning broadly.

"You just said '_our_ guests!'" the blonde exclaimed. He put on hand on Crona's shoulder and placed the other one over his heart dramatically. "You're finally starting to embrace the life of a Host! I . . . I'm so happy!"

""Don't get too ahead of yourself, Tono,"" the twins said as they walked by, grabbing the mug out of Crona's nervous grip along the way.

"Yeah, Tama-chan, just because Crona-chan brings tea doesn't mean he wants to be a Host anymore that he does now," Honey pointed out, and Mori nodded in agreement. Tamaki's face immediately twisted into an expression of distress and he ran to his corner.

"Um, Tamaki . . .?" Crona said inquiringly as the blonde crouched down and started drawing aimlessly on the floor.

"Just leave him," Kyoya said, appearing at Crona's side and startling him. "Now, would it be alright for me to try a little of that tea before the guests arrive? I just want to make sure that it'll suit their tastes."

"Oh, of course," Crona nodded. "Um, w-why don't you _all_ try some? There's enough for everyone . . ."

Just as the Hosts started to gather around one of the tables, the doors to the clubroom opened and Haruhi and Ed practically fell into the room, panting heavily.

"Whoa!" Hikaru exclaimed as Al walked into the room and carefully closed the door behind him, shaking his head at the sight of his brother lying on the floor.

"What happened to _you_ guys?" Kaoru asked. Haruhi managed to prop herself up on her hands as Al hoisted his brother back onto his feet.

"We were . . . chasing after . . . Nekozawa-Senpai," Haruhi explained, still slightly out of breath, and Al helped her to her feet as well.

"He stole the note we showed you the other day," Ed added, more used to running than Haruhi was and thus recovering quicker. "Said he wanted to use the symbol at the bottom for some 'dark ritual' crap . . ."

"We got it back, though!" Al said, holding up the note card. The Hosts just stared at them for a few seconds, until Kyoya cleared his throat.

"Alright, well, we were just about to have some tea," he said, pushing his glasses up. "Care to join us?"

"Yeah, Crona-chan made it!" Honey squealed, bouncing up and down slightly. Crona gave him a sideways glance and the small boy grinned and clutched his bunny so close to his chest that the seams looked like they were about to rip apart.

"Don't mind if we do!" Ed said, striding over to the table, closely followed by Haruhi and Alphonse.

Tamaki, having emerged from his corner when his "darling daughter" entered the room, picked up the mug and started to pour a bit of "tea" into nine china cups, which were quickly taken up by the Hosts, Ed, and Crona. When the "tea" was finished being distributed, Crona took a step back so he could get a clear view of everyone's reactions.

Almost as soon as the potion touched their lips, the boys- and Haruhi- let out cries of disgust.

"*cough* Oh my _god_ . . .!"

""Oh, that is just _nasty_!""

"Takashi, this tea isn't sweet at all! It's so _bitter!"_

" . . . I know, Mitsukuni."

"This is . . . actually really disgusting . . ."

"Aw, what the hell _is_ this? It's definitely _not_ tea . . ."

Crona sighed and placed his cup down on a nearby table, relieved. It seemed like none of the Hosts was the pure soul . . .

Suddenly, Crona froze. There was one voice that he hadn't yet heard exclaim in disgust. Slowly, he turned back around to look at the owner of the voice, hoping that the boy had just been too busy spitting out the potion to make any noise.

What Crona saw next sent a shiver down his spine.

All of the Hosts were either spitting the potion back into their cups or had run to the bathroom, except for one boy. The blonde was still sipping his "tea," watching the others run around with a mildly confused look in his violet eyes.

"No . . .," Crona whispered, starting to tremble. "Oh, please, not him . . ."

"Tamaki, why are you still _drinking _that?" Ed yelled, noticing the Host King standing there calmly.

"Why wouldn't I?" Tamaki replied. "It's really good! I mean really, _really_ good! Not too bitter, but not too sweet either. I'm surprised none of you like it!"

"Tamaki . . .," Crona moaned quietly, gripping his arm as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

It was Tamaki Suoh.

_He_ was the pure soul.

The boy who had, just three days ago, admitted to being the first person to truly care about Crona in all of the forlorn boy's miserable life . . .

. . . And Medusa was going to kill him.

"No . . .," Crona repeated, sinking to his knees and gripping his head. "Why? Why did it have to be _Tamaki,_ of all people? _Why?"_

"Crona, are you okay?" Tamaki asked worriedly, rushing over when he saw Crona go down. Crona's head whipped up and he stared at Tamaki with wide eyes. As his eyes met Tamaki's, his expression shifted to one of pure, unadulterated anguish.

"_I can't deal with this!"_ he shouted, and then he jumped up and bolted out of the room as fast as he could.

Crona ran until he got to the boys' bathroom at the end of the hallway, passing the Hosts who were returning to the clubroom along the way. He flung the door open and, after quickly scanning the bottom of the stalls for feet, locked it and sank to the floor, hunching up into a ball with his head buried in his knees. He didn't move until Ragnarok appeared and forcefully tugged his head up by yanking on a fistful of his hair.

"Get a hold of yourself, damn it!" the Demon Sword cursed, slapping Crona across the face. "You _knew_ there was a possibility it could be him; why are you letting it get to you?"

"H-he's my f-friend!" Crona blubbered, trying unsuccessfully to make Ragnarok let go.

"Aw, your _friend, _huh? Forget it; you knew you could never be _real_ friends with him anyway! You're a _Demon Swordsman_, and he's just another human soul for me to eat! Or, at least he_ was_ . . . I guess that idea's kind of shot now . . ."

"But, I . . . I c-can't just let him get k-killed! N-not after what he s-said to me the other d-day!"

"Yeah, well, you've got no choice!" Ragnarok leaned over to look his Meister dead in the eyes. "You're not gonna defy Lady Medusa's orders, are you?"

Crona was silent for a few seconds, and then he gripped his arm and hung his head.

"No," he said softly.

"That's right. Because if _you_ get in trouble, we _both_ get in trouble- you got that?"

"Yes, Ragnarok."

"Good. Now, are you gonna stop acting like a baby and go back out there?"

"Yes, Ragnarok."

"And are you gonna try and go against Medusa if she orders you to kill Tamaki?" Crona opened his mouth and then shut it again, squeezing his eyes shut as the tears started to form. Ragnarok gripped his hair tighter and jerked his head up vehemently. _"Are you?"_

" . . . No, Ragnarok."

"Good." Ragnarok gave Crona's head a squeeze. "See? You're not _always_ a complete disgrace of a Meister!" He grinned. "Tell you what- _I'll_ be your friend, if you want."

"Really?" Crona looked at Ragnarok hopefully. The Demon Sword laughed mockingly.

"Of course not, idiot!" he yelled, pinching the forlorn boy's cheeks. "You're too much of a _damn wimp!"_

"Ow! Ragnarok!" Crona whined, and then he gasped when he heard running footsteps come to an abrupt halt outside the door.

"Crona, are you in there?" came Tamaki's frantic cries, accompanied by a rattling as he jiggled the locked door handle. Ragnarok disappeared after squeezing Crona's head one last time as a warning not to do anything stupid, and Crona stood up.

He took a deep breath and steeled his resolve: he wouldn't get any closer to Tamaki than he had already . . . or anyone else for that matter. They'd all probably just end up dead anyway . . .

Just like Tamaki would be soon.

After a few more seconds of preparing himself, Crona unlocked the door. Tamaki, who had been leaning on the door in an attempt to push it open, fell through the doorway and right onto Crona, knocking them both over.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tamaki exclaimed apologetically, quickly standing up. He gently took hold of Crona's arm and lifted the boy to his feet, then frowned in confusion when Crona jerked his arm out of his grasp.

"I'm fine," the pink-haired boy mumbled, gripping his arm and staring at the floor. Tamaki placed a hand on his shoulder, but Crona immediately shook it off and stepped back a few feet.

"What's wrong?" Tamaki questioned. He took a step towards Crona, but the boy just moved back some more. Tamaki frowned again, trying to figure out why he was suddenly acting so distant. "Was it the tea? I don't know why everyone was freaking out about it being bitter; _I_ thought it was delicious!"

Crona made a strange, half-strangled noise and clapped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head and backing up some more. Suddenly, he let out a yelp and hunched over, clutching his head. Tamaki reached out to help, but he stopped himself right before his hand touched Crona's shoulder; the boy had abruptly stopped moving. He stayed still as a statue for a few seconds and then he let out a low, mirthless sort of laugh and visibly twitched, making Tamaki jump and take an involuntary step back.

"Um, Crona . . .?" the blonde said quietly, almost as if he was afraid to disturb him. Crona gripped his arm so tightly Tamaki could see the whites of his knuckles and continued making that disturbing laugh. The noise suddenly stopped with a choked-off sort of gasp, and Crona slowly stood up and finally turned his gaze to Tamaki.

Tamaki blinked and took a step back in alarm when he saw Crona's expression: his eyes were _way_ wider than usual, and they looked as if the irises had somehow changed to a lighter, more sky-colored blue. But what really disturbed Tamaki was the fact that the corner of Crona's mouth was twitching upwards, as if Crona was trying to hold back some secret, crazy smile.

"Yes, the tea . . .," Crona said, almost dreamily. "That's what's wrong . . . It was the tea . . ."

Tamaki was beginning to get really worried; it looked like Crona was having some sort of mental breakdown, and the blonde had no idea how to snap him out of it. He decided that maybe if he talked to him, Crona would somehow come back to his senses.

"I see," Tamaki said, noticing that Crona hadn't blinked once since he'd fixed his gaze on him. "Well, is . . . is there anything _else_ that you wanted to tell me about?"

Crona cocked his head to the side, that creepy smile still lingering on the edge of his lips.

"I'm not feeling well," he said abruptly. "I think I'll go home and rest . . ."

He suddenly started walking towards the door, which was right behind Tamaki, and the Host King had to move out of the way to avoid Crona walking into him. He thought Crona was going to run straight into the door and got ready to pull him away, but Crona stopped right before he hit it and gazed at Tamaki expectantly.

"Uh, let me get that for you," Tamaki said, reaching over to open the door when Crona continued to stare at him. He pushed on the door, but it didn't budge. Suddenly, Crona made that strange laughing noise again, making a chill go up Tamaki's spine. He turned back around to find that the smile on Crona's face was now very evident, lifting up Crona's mouth in an almost unnatural way.

"The door only opens one way," the boy said, the laughter vanishing. Tamaki blinked again and waited for him to say more, but Crona's mouth remained shut.

"Um, thanks . . .," Tamaki said, after a moment, and then he tugged the door open as fast as he could; he didn't want to admit it, but he was actually starting to get a little _scared_ of staying in that room with Crona any longer. It was like the shy boy had become a completely different person, and not in a good way.

"Oh, look . . . there's people in the way . . .," Crona remarked matter-of-factly, and Tamaki poked his head around the door to find the Host Club and the Elrics standing there, Ed's hand poised to knock on the door.

"'Sup?" the alchemist asked, and Tamaki smiled with relief; he instantly felt better knowing that Ed and Al were here should Crona start to do anything too drastic . . .

"We came to apologize to Crona," Haruhi piped up.

"Yeah, we're sorry we made you sad, Crona-chan!" Honey added.

Everyone looked at Crona expectantly, waiting for his reaction. Instead of acknowledging the Hosts' apologies, he let out another short chuckle and looked straight at Tamaki again.

"So many people to play with . . .," he said. "But I don't have time to play now . . . I have to go home . . . maybe some other time . . ."

"Whoa, hold on!" Hikaru exclaimed. "Look, we're really sorry!"

"Yeah, you don't have to go . . . home . . .," Kaoru trailed off when Crona turned back to the group and he got a good look at the boy's expression.

"Oh, but I do," Crona replied, his lips curling up so much that his smile was nearly devilish. Tamaki could see the changes in the Hosts' faces as they started to realize that there was something extremely wrong with Crona at the moment.

"Uh, why do you have to go exactly?" Ed asked bravely, and then he took a protective step towards Al when Crona gave him his full attention.

"Because Ra-" He broke off mid-sentence and twitched his head, almost as if he'd just been hit by something. He winced, and then continued talking. "Because I do. E-excuse me."

Tamaki had just enough time to see that the smile had disappeared from Crona's face before the boy took off down the hallway at top speed, pushing the group out of his way in his haste.

"Wait- Crona!" Tamaki called after him, but Crona was already rounding the corner at the end of the hall. The Hosts and the Elric brothers stared after him in a stunned silence.

"Well, _that_ was interesting . . .," Kyoya remarked, pushing up his glasses. He started to walk back towards the clubroom. "Let's leave him be and head back to our room; he'll come back if he wants, and our guests are probably waiting for us."

As the rest of the group trailed after him, muttering hushed conversations of what could've been wrong with the pink-haired boy, Alphonse hung back to fall into step with Tamaki.

"Is Crona going to be alright?" the suit of armor asked, looking down at the blonde. Tamaki sighed.

"I don't know," he admitted. Al put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Tamaki; I'm sure he'll come around soon."

"I really hope so, Alphonse." Tamaki put his hand on top of Al's and stared down the hallway Crona had gone, wondering where the boy had run off to. He sighed again.

"I really hope so."

* * *

Crona ran as fast as he could to the main office. When he got there, he went up to the secretary's desk and stopped, panting slightly.

"I have an appointment with Ch-Chairman Suoh," he said quickly. The secretary looked up from her paperwork and raised one eyebrow questioningly. Crona thought she was going to ask him why he was so out of breath, but she just gestured for him to go into the Chairman's office. Crona scurried in, shut the door behind him, and slid down to the floor. Ragnarok exploded out of his back, but Crona barely registered this; now that he'd come back to his senses, the full force of what had just transpired hit him again.

Tamaki- his _friend_, Tamaki- was the pure soul; the one soul that could serve in the place of hundreds to create the philosopher's stone. Crona knew that Medusa would stop at nothing to gain the fabled stone; she wouldn't care whether Crona objected to using Tamaki as an ingredient or not.

_After all, when has she _ever_ given any consideration to how I've felt?_ Crona thought bitterly, trying to ignore Ragnarok as the Demon Sword once again started pounding on his head. _To her, everyone's the same; just pawns to be used in her plans . . . even _me, _her own _child_ . . ._

Suddenly, Crona was wrenched out of his thoughts as a jolt of pain sliced through his head. He heard the tinkling of broken glass and saw tiny pieces of it cascading down around him, catching and reflecting the light of the sun coming in through the windows. He reached up, confused, and touched the top of his head, to find that his hair was covered in a wet, sticky substance. He brought his hand down and saw that it was smeared with black blood.

"Ragnarok!" he exclaimed, realizing what must've happened. When Crona hadn't responded to Ragnarok's attempts to get his attention, the Demon Sword had gotten angry- well, angrier than usual-, and had picked up a nearby vase and smashed it on his Meister's head.

"Oh, _shut up_, you damn baby!" Ragnarok snarled. "It's not like you're gonna bleed to death; I already hardened your blood!" He smacked Crona on the head again. "You know, you're really starting to _piss me off!_ I can't believe I had to use _madness_ just to get you out of that damn bathroom! You were gonna tell Tamaki that he was the pure soul, weren't you?"

"It's not my fault!" Crona whined, desperately trying to prevent Ragnarok from hitting him anymore; just because the wound in his head wasn't fatal didn't mean that it still didn't hurt like crazy. "I-I couldn't help it! You know that feeling I get when he's around! It's not my fault I was going to tell, it was his!"

Ragnarok paused, realizing that he couldn't argue with this logic very well; he _did_ understand that it really _wasn't_ Crona's fault. He was still for a few seconds, trying to think of a comeback, but he couldn't seem to come up with a fitting one. So instead, he just settled for:

"Damn it! Well, at least we finally know _why_ you feel like telling him all our secrets."

Crona turned to him and frowned, a few shards of glass that were still in his hair falling to the ground.

"Why?" he asked, and then he let out a yelp of pain as Ragnarok smacked him on the head again.

"Because he's the pure soul, idiot! He probably has that effect on everybody and doesn't even know it!"

Just then, Crona heard the doorknob start to turn. He jumped up and moved away from the door, gripping his arm. Ragnarok crouched down behind his Meister's head, ready to disappear if someone other than Medusa entered the room. But, to Ragnarok and Crona's somewhat relief, it was "Chairman Suoh" who walked through the door.

"Oh! There you two are!" Medusa exclaimed, quickly shutting the door behind her. "I was wondering when you'd show- Crona, what happened to your head?"

Crona blinked in confusion and reached up to touch his hair, which was coated with now-dried black blood. He'd completely forgotten his injury for a moment when Medusa had shown up.

"R-Ragnarok hit me with a vase, Lady Medusa," Crona told her, brushing the last few pieces of glass out of his pink locks.

"I suppose that explains the glass all over the floor, then," the witch commented, looking at the ground disdainfully when she heard the crunch of broken glass under her feet.

"Sorry, Lady Medusa," Ragnarok and Crona said at the same time. Medusa glared at the ground for a second, and then shook her head and looked up at them.

"That doesn't matter now. Did you find the pure soul?"

Crona opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. He closed it and stared at the ground, gripping his arm even tighter. The second he told Medusa who it was, Tamaki's life would be over . . .

"It's Tamaki Suoh!" Ragnarok piped up, and Crona grimaced and shut his eyes.

"Tamaki Suoh, eh? You're sure about this?" Medusa asked, and Ragnarok nodded. A slow grin spread across her face. "Ha, how ironic! Out of everyone at this school, my '_son'_ just happens to be the pure soul! Oh, that's just amazing . . ."

Medusa continued to chuckle maniacally, and Crona looked up at her with wide eyes. He had forgotten for a moment that Chairman Suoh, whose body Medusa was currently controlling, was actually Tamaki's father. He grimaced; that made the fact that Tamaki was the pure soul even _worse, _if that was even possible _ . . ._

"Good job, Crona," Medusa said suddenly, and Crona stared at her, gripping his arm tighter. He flinched when she reached down and ran a hand over his head affectionately, almost as if she actually _was_ proud of him. But, this emotion was short-lived, and Crona knew that she'd only touched him like that out of recognition for a job well done more than anything else; she still didn't _really_ care about him. He stared at the ground dejectedly as Medusa walked over to the window and looked out of it, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Well, now that we know who the pure soul is, we just need to get that special transmutation circle drawn and then lead Tamaki to it," she said. Crona glanced up again and she turned around and grinned at him. He gulped, wondering if "leading Tamaki to it" meant that_ he_ would have to take Tamaki there himself . . . and have to kill him, too. He debated asking this for a few seconds, before deciding that Medusa was going to tell him eventually anyway, so he might as well find out now and get it over with.

"L-Lady Medusa . . .," he started to say, but Medusa cut him off.

"You're wondering if you're going to have to lead him to the circle?" Crona blinked when she voiced his thoughts aloud. Medusa took that as a "yes" to her query and continued, still grinning. "Yes, you're going to have to lure him there. But that shouldn't be too hard; he seems to have taken a liking to you."

Crona paled, trying not to think about how nice Tamaki had been to him. He was just another soul; nothing important. He'd have probably just ended up being food for Ragnarok anyway . . . He tried to keep these thoughts in his mind as he decided to ask the question that had been plaguing him for a while now.

"Um, Lady Medusa?" he said quietly, and Medusa turned her full attention on him. Normally, she didn't feel like dealing with any of her son's inane questions, but she was in a particularly good mood at the moment, so she decided to indulge him.

"What is it, Crona?" The boy quickly averted his gaze to the floor and gripped his arm tighter.

"Um . . . w-will I have t-to . . . to k-kill him?" he managed to choke out, and then he cringed, worried that Medusa would think that he was being insolent and punish him. The witch just smirked.

"As of now . . . no," she told him. Her lips creased into a frown when Crona looked visibly relieved. Why was _he_ concerned with having to kill the Suoh boy? "You know, Crona, I hope you haven't been trying to make _friends_ with this boy."

Crona visibly stiffened, and Medusa's frown deepened. She walked over and gripped his chin in her hand, jerking it up so he would have nowhere to look but at her face.

"What have I told you about making friends? _Real_ friends, I mean?" she snarled, and Crona whimpered in fear. "Friends will only make you _weak_! Like now, for instance; you can't stand the thought of killing that boy, can you?" Crona didn't reply, so Medusa gripped his shoulders and shook him. _"Can you?"_

"N-no, Lady Medusa!" Crona admitted, and Medusa slapped him across the face, hard.

"See? You're becoming weak!" she yelled, ignoring her son's yelp of pain. "I can't afford for you to become any more pathetic- you can barely do anything as it is!"

"I'm s-sorry, Lady Medusa!" Crona cried, but Medusa just clucked her tongue disapprovingly.

"Tch! You're just _hopeless!"_ Suddenly, she gasped and gripped Crona's shoulders even tighter, her nails digging into his flesh. "Have you told him _anything?_ Anything about our plan?"

"No, no! I haven't!" Crona whined, the pain in his shoulders making him cringe. His body was desperately telling him to make Medusa release him, but Crona knew that if he tried that he would be in for even _more_ pain.

"Are you positive?" the witch asked, and Crona nodded desperately.

"Yes, I'm positive! Please, Lady Medusa, you're hurting me!"

Medusa scowled at him for a few more seconds, before pushing him away with such force that he fell onto the floor. She stalked over to the window and Crona sat up shakily. Ragnarok was clinging onto his hair, but for once the Demon Sword seemed too frightened at the moment to do anything to his Meister. After a moment of staring out the window, Medusa turned back to Crona, who wilted under her glare.

"Well, you're just lucky that we're almost ready to make the stone, Crona," the witch said. Her upper lip raised in a slight snarl. "Who knows what would've happened if this went on for much longer . . . Anyway, we're just waiting on Lust. Once she comes back with the drawing for the special transmutation circle, then we can proceed with the final step in our plan!"

Crona winced as Medusa let out a low chuckle, and then everyone whipped their heads around when they heard a banging noise outside the window. They were startled to see Lust clinging to the side of the building, tapping on the glass with an unnaturally long fingernail.

"Speak of the devil . . .," muttered Medusa as she rushed over to open the window. The homunculus stepped into the room and Medusa closed the window behind her.

"Sorry to barge in like this," Lust said, smoothing out her dress. "I didn't want to risk trying to walk through the building, so I decided to take a much faster route." She smiled slightly, and then she blinked in confusion when her gaze settled on Crona. "What happened to _you?"_

"He hit his head; it's nothing," Medusa said tartly, stepping in front of Crona so Lust wouldn't be distracted by the boy with black blood all over his hair. Lust looked at Medusa and the witch grinned in anticipation. "So? Did you get the drawing for the circle?"

"Yes, yes, here it is," Lust replied, pulling a piece of paper out of seemingly nowhere and handing it to Medusa, who snatched it greedily. Lust watched the witch with a wary expression as she studied the drawing. After a few seconds, Medusa looked up, and Crona shivered when he saw the demonic smile on her face, looking so out of place on Chairman's Suoh's body.

"Finally, we can create the philosopher's stone!" the witch exclaimed, and Lust exchanged her previous expression for one of delight and anticipation.

"Yes, if we work diligently, we can have the circle drawn in about a day, probably," the homunculus said. Medusa nodded.

"Alright, let's try to finish it by then."

"But, of course, we're not going to be able to create the stone without the pure soul," Lust pointed out. Medusa's grin widened.

"No need to worry about that; Crona just discovered who it was a little while ago."

Lust looked at Crona, who stared back at her with wide eyes. He was trembling slightly, but he wasn't sure if it was because of Medusa's last encounter with him, the fact that Tamaki was going to be killed, or both.

"Well, who is it, Crona?" Lust asked. Crona tried to talk, but his mouth refused to listen to him and form coherent words; all that came out was random stuttering. Lust took a step towards him and kneeled down so she was eye-level with him. "Come on, you can tell me; I won't bite!"

Crona gulped, not at all reassured by this statement, and his gaze flickered to Medusa. The witch was giving him a glare that made his palms start to sweat, and he felt Ragnarok lightly tug on a piece of his hair; the Demon Sword seemed to be coming back to his senses. Crona took a deep breath and managed to croak out:

"I-it's T-Tamaki Suoh. He's the p-pure s-soul."

"Isn't that the boy who's supposed to be your 'son'?" Lust asked, turning to Medusa, and the witch laughed.

"That's the one!"

"Well, then I guess it won't be very hard to get him to come to the circle now."

"Actually, I'm going to send Crona to bring him there." Medusa shot Crona another ice-cold glower, and the boy stared fiercely at the ground.

"Oh, alright. As long as he gets there, I'm fine with however you want to do it," Lust said, standing up. She and Medusa shared another devilish smile, and then Medusa once again looked at her son.

"Crona, go back to the house and clear out that basement; I want everything to be off the floor by the time I get home after school, alright?" she commanded, and Crona looked at her questioningly. "That's where we're going to draw the transmutation circle."

Crona let out an involuntary gasp. They were going to do it at his _house?_ Tamaki was going to be murdered right under the building he'd been living in for the past month? It was almost too much for Crona to deal with.

"Crona, are you listening to me?" Medusa yelled, and Crona immediately came back to his senses and jumped up.

"Yes, Lady Medusa!" he said quickly, nodding, but he had to stop when the wound on his head from earlier started to ache.

"Then go to the house and do it. Now!"

"Yes, Lady Medusa." Crona started to leave, but another yell from Medusa made him pause.

"And wash that black blood out of your hair first!" she ordered. "I don't want anyone questioning you about why your hair suddenly turned black! And if anyone asks why you're leaving, tell them that the principal sent you out on an errand. Can you handle all of that?"

"Yes, Lady Medusa," Crona said again, wincing as Ragnarok disappeared into his back. He waited for another second to see if Medusa was going to add anything else, but one final glare from his mother sent him running out of the room at high speed. He dashed into the nearest bathroom, but he had to hide in the stall for a few minutes until the person already in there left. Once he was sure the boy was gone, he hurriedly ran over to the sink and rinsed the black blood out of his hair as best he could. The wound didn't look too bad, thankfully; he guessed it would probably disappear by tomorrow.

After making sure there were no more black spots in his pink hair, Crona ran out of the bathroom and down the hallway until he finally made it out the front doors of the school. He was halfway to the fountain when he thought he heard someone calling his name. Without stopping, he glanced back and saw Ed and Al waving to him from one of the open hallways on the second story. The pink-haired boy let out a yelp and picked up his pace, only slowing down once he'd rounded the side of the gates that marked the entrance to Ouran Academy.

He continued on his way home, blinking back the tears that had sprung up in his eyes. Ed and Al would surely hate him after this, too. And just when he'd been beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, he could've been friends with them as well . . .

Crona jerked his arm across his eyes, wiping away the tears; he'd already cried enough lately. As he ran, he tried to focus on one thing: that this would all be over soon. After tomorrow, Medusa would have her precious philosopher's stone and they could leave this place and forget all about it. It would be as if Crona had never even _come_ to Ouran.

As comforting as this thought was, somehow it didn't make Crona feel any better about what was about to happen.

He was starting to doubt that anything would.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter 11 will be up next week. In the meantime, please review!**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: I don't have much to say here . . . enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Oops, forgot this last time . . . I don't own anything in this story! **

**Chapter 11**

"Tamaki, we need to talk to you."

The Host King looked up from the book he was reading to find the Elric brothers standing in front of him, Ed's arms crossed over his chest and a slight frown on his face.

"Oh, um, sure," Tamaki replied, closing his book and setting it on the table. "What about?"

"We think that there's something really fishy about Crona," Ed said. Tamaki merely blinked at him.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked. Ed sighed in annoyance; Tamaki could be so dense at times . . .

"Have you seen the way he acts? It's obvious he's hiding something!" Tamaki's eyes widened slightly and he looked at the ground.

"Well, that might be true, I guess. But even if he was, I'm sure he'd tell someone if he really wanted them to know."

Ed and Al shared a knowing glance. It seemed that Tamaki also knew more than he was letting on.

"Alright, spill it," Ed commanded, walking closer to the chair the Host King was sitting in so that he could lean over him, trying to suppress a grin- Ed was secretly elated by the fact that at this particular moment, he seemed to be taller than the other blonde.

"W-well . . . he doesn't want me to talk about it. It's very personal," Tamaki admitted.

"Does it have anything to do with the pure soul?" Al piped up. Tamaki frowned at him.

"Pure soul? Oh, no, it's nothing like that! I don't even think he knows what that is!"

"I'm not too sure about that," Ed said, and Tamaki turned his questioning gaze on him. "Remember when we showed him that note the other day? By the look on his face I could tell that _something_ struck a chord when he read it."

"Yeah, it was really subtle, but I could see that something was up, too," Alphonse added.

Tamaki's frown deepened; had he really not noticed that? He guessed that he'd still been concerned about Crona being okay after their talk about his mother that he hadn't been looking out for subtle signs such as that. After a few seconds of thought, he looked at Ed again.

"Well, why don't you just ask him about it?" he questioned, and Ed laughed.

"Ask _that_ kid for information? He'd probably just stop talking and stare at the ground like he always does."

There was another silence for a moment, until Al spoke up.

"The point is, Tamaki, we think you should be a little more cautious around Crona," he said. "At least until we figure out exactly what he's hiding."

"And while you're at it, maybe _you_ could try to figure out what's up to, too," Ed put in. "He seems to talk to you a lot more than he does to other people."

"I can't do that!" Tamaki exclaimed, and Ed and Al jumped, surprised at this outburst. "He's my friend! I don't want to pry him for information that he doesn't want to tell me!"

"But Tamaki-"

"No, I'm not going to do that, Ed." Tamaki stood up resolutely, making Ed scowl as he was once again the shortest person in the room. "I'm sorry, but I think that if you want to get information from someone, it's best to just ask them directly. Especially with people like Crona; I think he'd be really hurt if he figured out that you guys were trying to sneak information out of him. He'd be hurt if he knew you were suspicious of him as well!"

"He probably already knows!" Ed yelled, starting to get aggravated. He wished that Tamaki would just _listen_ to him for once, instead of trying to be the saint that can see no bad in anyone, even when other people try to convince him otherwise. "Tamaki, you always try to see the good in people!"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"What Brother is trying to say," Al interjected, stepping in-between the two warring blondes. "is that not everyone is as innocent as they seem at first. We've dealt with people like that before, so we know that even though it's hard to admit, it could be possible."

"Did you ever think that the way he acts could just be a cover?" Ed piped up, stepping around Al to see Tamaki again. He saw a slight bit of doubt on the tall blonde's face, so he continued, hoping that he'd be able to get his point through. "What if he's really _not_ a nervous wreck and he's just acting like that so people won't be suspicious?"

"We'd never know unless he told us his story," Al added. The doubt on Tamaki's face immediately vanished as he frowned again.

"No, trust me, there's a reason that he acts that way; it's not a ruse." He paused, looking at Ed's expectant face- the alchemist waiting for him to back up this claim. Tamaki debated whether or not to tell them about Crona's childhood; Crona had expressly told him _not_ to divulge it to anyone. But, Tamaki knew that Ed and Al wouldn't be reassured unless they knew the truth. He sighed, hoping that Crona would forgive him for what he was about to reveal.

"Crona . . . had a bad childhood," Tamaki admitted. "He . . . he didn't tell me everything, but from what I gather, his mother never really loved him. He always did whatever she said, but he never got any affection in return. _That's_ why he has so much trouble dealing with people nowadays; he never got the love from his mother needed to be able to give love to anyone else."

Ed and Al stood there, shocked. Crona seemed to have had a pretty hard life, with no father and a mother that never loved him. At least Ed and Al's mother had _cared_ about them . . .

"That poor boy . . .," Al muttered. He looked at Ed. "Brother, if what Crona said is true, then maybe he's _not_ as suspicious as we thought; that's just the way he normally acts."

"I still don't trust him," Ed said defiantly. "So he has a reason for acting like everyone has a disease and he doesn't want to get close to them- so what? I'm still suspicious. I _know_ that note struck a chord with him for some reason. Plus, there's other things that he's done, too. Remember that weird tea he brought the other day? It was pretty out of the blue, don't you think? And everyone thought it was gross. Well, everyone but . . . Tamaki . . ."

Suddenly, Ed gasped and stared up at Al. After a second, Al gasped as well, taking an involuntary step back as the realization hit him.

"Brother, you don't think . . .," the suit of armor breathed, and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, I do," Ed replied. Tamaki looked from Ed to his brother, completely lost.

"What? What are you guys thinking?" he asked, and Ed and Al shared another glance before turning to him.

"Tamaki, what if Crona brought that tea to _test_ something?" Ed said, and Tamaki's expression went from lost to confused. "Do you remember? He didn't drink any of it himself; it was like he _knew_ it was going to taste bad. And then when he saw that you were the only one not affected, he got really upset."

"Like he was hoping that whatever he was looking for, it wasn't going to be you," Al continued. Tamaki shook his head.

"I still don't get it. So the fact that I was able to drink the tea meant something to him?"

"Yeah, it all makes sense!" Ed exclaimed. His golden eyes were shining with excitement. "That note from the other day said that the pure soul was 'closer than we think;' a few days later, Crona shows up with some random drink that he _knew_ was going to taste bad to everyone, and that's why he didn't drink it. But, when he saw that Tamaki, the kid who's been the nicest to him out of everyone so far and who he'd apparently felt that he could confide the secret of his past in, was the only one who wasn't spitting it back out, he became upset.

"Maybe he was upset because that drink was the way to find out who the pure soul was! Whoever didn't think it was disgusting was supposed to be the pure soul! That's why he got so distressed when it was his closest friend that wasn't affected, because he knew that _he_ would have to be sacrificed to make the philosopher's stone!"

"Wait- but Brother, then that means . . .," Al trailed off, staring at Ed.

Both brothers turned their fascinated gazes on Tamaki, whose heart was starting to beat very quickly as the tall blonde was beginning to put all the pieces together.

"Tamaki . . . _you're_ the pure soul!" Ed and Al exclaimed at the same time.

"_What?_" Tamaki said quietly, not believing it. How could _he_ be the one soul that could stand in the place of hundreds to create the philosopher's stone, when he hadn't even _heard_ of the thing until a few weeks ago?

But, as the Elric's logic ran through his head, it all made sense; maybe there _was_ another side to Crona that the boy hadn't revealed. He'd been searching for the stone the whole time as well, and that's why he'd looked so distraught in the bathroom the other day!

"Maybe . . . maybe that's what he was going to tell me before he started acting strange!" Tamaki exclaimed, recalling how Crona had seemed like he was about to say something right before he'd has his little "mental breakdown," as Tamaki referred to it. "He was going to tell me that I was the pure soul, but something stopped him before he could!"

All of a sudden, the blonde rushed over and gripped Ed's shoulders, startling the alchemist.

"Ed, you're right! I'm the pure soul!" Suddenly, Tamaki stiffened. His eyes widened and he released Ed, taking a step back. "But- hold on . . . I'm the pure soul . . . then that means . . ."

He glanced at the Elric brothers, and Ed and Al were shocked to see a hint of fear in his violet eyes.

"Tamaki, how could you ever_ think_ that?" Ed shouted, at the same time Al said:

"We'd _never_ use you to make the stone!"

"Really?" Tamaki asked, still gazing at them warily. "I know how much you want the stone . . . and by using me you'd only have to use one soul-"

"Geez, would you cut the crap?" Ed interjected. He stomped over so he was right in front of Tamaki and locked gazes with him, his arms crossed in front of him. "We already told you we were going to find a way around having to kill anybody, so stop acting like you're going to be a human sacrifice! We said we'd figure out how to create the stone without anyone losing their life, and we _will!_ The fact that _you're_ the pure soul has nothing to do with whether we sacrifice anyone or not!"

"Yeah, it only makes us more determined to find a way to make the stone without losing any lives!" Al put in. Tamaki looked from Al's glowing eyes to Ed's resolute ones, and a small smile spread across his face.

"Thank you," he said. "You truly are _mes amis_!" Al let out a chuckle and Ed grinned back, but then his forehead creased in worry.

"I don't want to spoil the moment, but we still need to figure out what we're going to do about Crona," he said. "Obviously, we need to figure out why _he _wants to find the pure soul, and when he has to do with the homunculi. I'm almost positive that they're connected in some way."

"Should I tell him that I know I'm the pure soul?" Tamaki asked, and Ed put his fist up to his mouth, thinking. After a moment, he shook his head.

"No, we won't tell him . . . yet. Let's pretend that we haven't caught onto his plan and see if we can get him to tell us what he's up to. If that doesn't work, we can reveal that we know what he's doing and see if _that_ gets him talking."

"Good plan, Brother," Al said, and Ed grinned at him. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be," Tamaki muttered as a maid rushed by to open the door. "I wasn't expecting any visitors . . ." After a few seconds, the maid came back into the living room where the boys were standing.

"Master Tamaki, there's a boy with pink hair here to see you," she informed him. "He says he's a friend of yours. Should I let him in?"

"Well, that's convenient," Ed muttered, and Tamaki glanced at him.

"Should we talk to him now?" the tall blonde asked, and Ed shrugged.

"Might as well get it over with."

"Okay." Tamaki turned back to the maid. "Send him in here, please. Thank you."

"Certainly, Master Tamaki," the maid replied, and then she left. She quickly returned, leading Crona towards the living room. Once he was past the doorway, she gave Tamaki a curt bow and exited again, leaving Crona standing there looking like a deer in headlights.

"Hello, Crona," Tamaki said cautiously, taking a step towards him. Crona immediately flinched and took a hasty step back. Tamaki glanced behind him and saw Ed and Al share a shrewd look. The tall blonde turned back to Crona, to see the other boy still staring at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Feeling?" Crona echoed, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"You were acting kind of . . . strange earlier; I was just wondering if you were alright."

Crona kept frowning, and then he let out a little gasp of recognition and nodded quickly.

"Oh, y-yes, I'm fine. Uh, t-thanks for asking," he said, and Tamaki nodded curtly. There was a strained silence for a moment as everyone waited for someone else to speak up.

"Oh, forget this!" Ed exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone. He walked over and poked Crona in the chest, staring up at the pink-haired boy determinately. "Why are you so interested in the pure soul? And don't try to say you're not, because we've already figured it out!"

"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed, and Crona's eyes widened even more. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it again and took yet another step back.

"Deny it!" Ragnarok hissed in the back of his mind. "Act like you don't know what they're talking about! We can't let them get onto us when we're this close to the end!"

"U-um, what are you talking about?" Crona said quietly, gripping his arm. Ed rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder at Tamaki.

"See, what'd I tell you? He's just denying it!" He whipped back to Crona, narrowing his eyes. "Come on, spill it! We _know_ that that 'tea' you brought the other day was a test to see who the pure soul was!"

"W-what?" Crona exclaimed; had they really figured it out?

"So much for the plan . . .," Al muttered as Tamaki stepped forward. He gently took Ed's shoulders and moved the shorter blonde out of the way- ignoring Ed's protests- and gripped Crona's hands in his own.

"Please, Crona, we just want to know what's going on," he said, refusing to let go as Crona started to struggle in his grip. "This could be very important information for Edward and Alphonse that could help them get their bodies back!"

"S-stop! Let go! I don't know anything!" Crona cried; he hadn't been prepared for _this_. He'd just wanted to come over and invite Tamaki over to his house tomorrow. He didn't know there would be an ambush waiting for him . . .

"Please," Tamaki said again, the look in his eyes almost begging. Crona quickly scrunched his own eyes tightly closed when that feeling of revealing his heart and soul to Tamaki started to creep through his mind once again. Tamaki gave Crona's hands a gentle squeeze and Crona opened his eyes ever so slightly.

"Crona, I know I'm the pure soul."

Crona blanched; that was it. Medusa was going to be _so_ angry with him . . .

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Ragnarok yelled. "Say something! Just keep denying you know anything! Hurry up, before they get even _more _suspicious!"

"Uh, um . . .," Crona trailed off, looking everywhere but at Tamaki.

"Just tell us what you know!" Ed yelled, and Al put a hand on his shoulder.

"Brother, stop yelling at him!"

"I can't help it; he's not cooperating!"

"Ed, Al, please-"

"Let us handle this, Tamaki!"

"Um-" Crona started to say again, but the other boys were now in an argument over which one of them should be the one to talk to Crona. Said boy took a slight step back; he had the strongest urge to run out of that chaotic house. However, he knew that he had a job to do, and if he failed to complete it, his immediate future looked quite bleak. He cleared his throat and tried to speak again, but his voice was lost in the yelling of the other boys. He frowned slightly, and then he winced as Ragnarok's voice joined in the cacophony of sound.

"_Damn it_, Crona, just yell at them!" the Demon Sword shouted in the pink-haired boy's mind. "If you don't tell Tamaki to come over to the house soon, I'm gonna use madness on you again!"

"No! Don't, Ragnarok!" Crona cried; he did _not_ want to go through that again anytime soon. He steeled himself and then took a step towards the bickering boys.

"I . . . _I just wanted to invite Tamaki over to my house tomorrow!"_ he yelled, as loud as he could. The other boys immediately ceased talking and turned to stare at him. Crona gripped his arm and gazed at the floor. "Um, I-I mean, Tamaki, I want you to come over tomorrow."

"Oh . . . really?" Tamaki questioned, surprised; this was certainly out of the blue. Crona gave him a little nod, and Tamaki grinned and clapped his hands together. "Well, of course I'd love to come over!"

"Tamaki!" Ed exclaimed, and everyone turned to look at him. The alchemist glared up at the taller blonde. "Are you _stupid?_ Did you forget our conversation five minutes ago? What if he wants you to come over so he can try and make the stone? He _can't_ be trusted!"

Crona's eyes widened at this statement, but he kept the rest of his face composed in a lost expression; Ragnarok's voice was telling him not to let the other boys know that he understood what they were talking about.

"Ed, please, give the poor boy a break!" Tamaki pleaded, and Crona glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He still couldn't believe that Tamaki was sticking up for him, even when Ed was literally telling him Crona's plan to use Tamaki to make the philosopher's stone. It seemed to Crona as if Tamaki was either ignoring what Ed was saying, or he just didn't seem to care.

The two blondes stared each other down for a minute, until Ed finally flung his hands up in the air and let out a growl of frustration.

"Damn it, Tamaki!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, and then looked up at the Host King. "Fine, if you _really_ want to go with Crona tomorrow, you can go. But me and Al are coming with you, alright?"

"Is that okay, Crona?" Tamaki asked, directing his attention to the shy boy. He gave Crona a wry smile. "I don't think they'll let me go otherwise . . ."

"Oh, um, t-that's fine," Crona agreed.

"There, it's settled, then!" Tamaki exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Suddenly, Ed stomped over to Crona again.

"Listen, Crona, we know you're up to _something,_" he snarled, glaring into Crona's sad eyes. "If you try _anything_ tomorrow, just know that we're not gonna hesitate to fight back. And we _will_ figure out what you have to do with the pure soul and the homunculi, whether you want to tell us or not. Got it?"

Crona could only tilt his head slightly in acknowledgement; he had no doubt that the alchemist meant what he said.

"Brother, back off," Al warned, noticing that Crona was starting to grip his arm even tighter. Ed reluctantly took a few steps back, and Crona relaxed his grip ever-so-slightly.

"Well, Crona, would you like to stay for dinner?" Tamaki asked, glancing at the clock.

"_Tamaki!"_ Ed exclaimed, whirling to face him. He couldn't _believe_ that Tamaki was still ignoring everything Ed had been saying for the past fifteen minutes; now he was even inviting the source of their suspicion over to _dinner._

"No, um, I h-have to get home," Crona said quickly, already backing towards the door. "T-thanks anyway, though."

"Oh, alright," Tamaki said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. However, he immediately perked up and rushed over to open the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Tamaki called as Crona started walking down the driveway. "It's going to be fun, I'm sure!"

"Uh, yeah, fun . . .," Crona replied softly. He spared a glance back to see the three boys staring after him. Tamaki was smiling and waving, Ed was glaring, and Al's expression was, as usual, completely unreadable.

Crona turned around and hurried down the rest of the driveway, not wanting to spend another minute at that place. He held back a sob that was threatening to escape through his lips. So much for trying to distance himself for Tamaki . . . now the urge to stop this whole thing from happening was stronger than ever.

He sighed and kept his head down the rest of the way home, thinking of the kind boy with the violet eyes.

It felt as if he was already saying his final goodbyes.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Just a warning, this chapter will get very intense! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything (as usual). **

**Chapter 12**

The air was fresh, with a light breeze ruffling through the trees, and the sun was shining down brightly, casting a warm glow over the Earth. Everywhere one looked, it seemed like an absolutely lovely day.

"Kind of an ironic day to kill somebody, huh?" Ragnarok commented in back of Crona's mind, making said boy stiffen.

"Hush, Ragnarok," he whispered softly so the other three boys trailing along behind him wouldn't hear.

It was the next afternoon, and Crona was leading Tamaki, Ed, and Al up the gravel driveway to his "house." Tamaki still seemed completely oblivious that something was up; the Elrics, however, were casting suspicious glances around the yard, all the while trying to keep an eye on Crona. As they reached the front door, Crona paused.

This was it. Once Tamaki went inside that house, the blonde's life would be over.

Crona took a deep breath and braced himself. He'd been trying not to think about it since last night, but the thought of never being able to see (or receive) Tamaki's kindness again hadn't left his mind. Suppressing a shiver, he grasped the door handle and opened the door.

"Um, w-we're going to go d-downstairs," he said as he made sure the other three boys were inside the house before closing the door behind them. As soon as Ed heard the lock click, he whipped around and narrowed his eyes.

"What'd you lock the door for?" he asked suspiciously.

"Uh, well, my m-mother says I should s-so we don't get burglars," Crona explained. Ed opened his mouth to say something else, but Tamaki put a firm hand on the top of his head.

"Leave him alone, Ed," the tall blonde said, and Ed's eye twitched. He whirled around, reached up, and threw Tamaki's hand to the side.

"Don't put your hand on my head!" he yelled. Tamaki gazed at him calmly.

"Why, because it makes you feel smaller than me?" he asked innocently. Al groaned as Ed let out a slight growl.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT BACTERIA IS GIANT COMPARED TO HIM?" the alchemist screamed, jumping up and down. Tamaki just continued to look at him with that serene expression.

"Sorry, Ed, but I told you to behave yourself today!" he chided. "As long as you keep being rude to Crona, I'm going to keep saying that you're you-know-what! Crona was very generous to let us come over to his house today, so we should be _thankful!"_

"Alright, alright!" Ed gave in, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Damn 'pure soul' . . ."

"Um, l-let's keep going, okay?" Crona said tentatively, and Tamaki nodded. As they walked past one of the doors in the hallway going towards the basement, Crona couldn't help but shiver; that was where Tamaki's father was currently being kept until he woke up. Medusa had left his body and returned to her own since she had no use for it anymore, so now Chairman Suoh was pretty much back to normal, although he wouldn't have any memory of the past few weeks.

_At least Tamaki's dad will go back to normal . . ._ Crona thought as he shot a quick glance at Tamaki. _Well . . . hopefully, if Lady Medusa doesn't decide to kill _him_ as well . . ._

"Is this it?" Alphonse asked, and Crona looked up to find that they were already at the end of the hallway.

"Oh, yes," he said quietly, staring at the large, brown door. He gulped and reached for the handle; no going back now . . .

He pulled open the door and led the three other boys down the stairs. At the bottom was a short, grey corridor with another door on the left wall. This was where Medusa and Lust were waiting.

"Um, m-my room's in here . . .," Crona said, gesturing to the door. However, he couldn't seem to do anymore than that. He stood there, frozen, until Tamaki put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you not want us to go in?" he asked, the look in his eyes telling Crona that he knew something was bothering the shy boy.

"No . . . I-I mean, yes! I mean, um . . .," Crona sputtered, and Ed rolled his eyes.

"Do you want us to go in or not?" the alchemist asked, and Crona nodded at him.

"Yes, you can go in. Here."

He reached over and opened the door. Ed and Al stuck their heads in, scrutinizing the room for any signs of something strange, but all they found was darkness.

"Can we turn on a light?"Al asked, glancing back at Crona, who was still standing there clutching the door handle, Tamaki's hand still resting on his shoulder.

"It's in the b-back corner," Crona told them. This was a lie, of course; he knew that Medusa was the one controlling the lights, and they were off so that she and Lust could hide in the shadows until Tamaki was securely inside the room. "Just go in and you'll find it."

Ed and Al stepped into the room and Crona got ready to close the door behind them. However, he knew that he couldn't close it just yet; his job was to get _Tamaki _inside the room as well. Once that was done, he would sit outside and wait. If everything went as planned, Medusa and Lust would convince Ed and Al to activate the transmutation circle and Crona wouldn't have to do it. Unfortunately, Crona was pretty sure that there was no way the Elrics would do that, so he was already preparing himself for having to activate the circle.

"You can go first," Tamaki said suddenly, breaking Crona's train of thought. Crona looked at him and blinked, not realizing what he'd said.

"What?"

"I said you can go in ahead of me, if you want," Tamaki repeated. Crona stared at him and gripped his arm, shaking his head.

"No, you can go first. I'll be right behind you," Crona told him. A strange feeling was starting to overcome the pink-haired boy- a sort of numbness, as if this whole situation he was in wasn't really happening.

"Alright, _mon ami,"_ Tamaki said, and Crona flinched when he heard those words.

_Mon ami . . ._ my friend . . . He was Tamaki's _friend_ . . .

"Get him in the damn room already!" Ragnarok suddenly yelled, making his Meister wince. "Lady Medusa is _waiting!_"

"Okay," Crona said quietly, and then he looked at Tamaki once more. Gently, he brushed the blonde's hand off of his shoulder and gave him a light push towards the doorway. Tamaki glanced back at him, sensing that something was wrong. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Crona started to close the door.

"Goodbye, Tamaki," Crona said, and he saw Ed and Al whip around at the sound of his voice. When they saw the door closing, they immediately started yelling and rushing towards it, but by the time they reached it the lock was already clicking into place.

Crona slumped down against the wall, listening to the boys banging against it, crying to be let out. He scrunched his legs up to his chest, rested his head on his knees, and waited for the signal, trying not to think about the fact that his friend's life was about to end.

* * *

"Crona, let us _out of here, _damn it!" Ed yelled, smacking his fist against the wall for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Ed, Ed, stop!" Tamaki said frantically, pulling his hand away; Ed was hitting the wall so hard that Tamaki could swear he saw a dent in his auto-mail. "We're not going to get out by doing that!"

"Brother, you were right," Al said, his glowing eyes the only visible thing in the darkness. "This _was_ a trap! And we fell for it!"

"Yeah, I know," Ed agreed sourly. He glared at Tamaki. "See? What'd we tell you?"

"Alright, so maybe this _is_ a part of Crona's plan," Tamaki tried to reason with him. "But I'm sure he's not going to do anything to hurt us; I mean, this is _Crona_. He wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Are you sure about that, Tamaki?" Ed asked, and Tamaki frowned slightly. "How much do you _really _know about that kid?"

"Well, I . . ."

"He probably left us in here so he could just come back and take care of us later!"

"Well . . .," Tamaki said quietly, having no response to this. He really wanted to believe that Crona meant them no harm, but he was starting to have second thoughts. Maybe the shy boy _wasn't_ as innocent as he'd seemed . . .

"I see we have some company," said an unexpected voice in the darkness, making everyone jump. The boys looked around frantically for the source of the sound, when a dim light suddenly flooded the room. The light was coming from a lone bulb hanging from the ceiling, and it allowed the boys to get a good look at exactly where they were.

The room was a huge, gray square, bare except for some faint lines running along the floor off towards the far end. There were still some pockets of darkness, and it was out of one of these shadows that two figures appeared. One was a woman wearing what looked like a black jumpsuit, with her golden-blonde hair tied at the front and strange tattoos resembling snakes running up her arms. The other figure was also a woman, with a low-cut green dress and a red tattoo in the center of her chest.

"Lust!" Ed and Al both exclaimed, and the homunculus smiled.

"Long time no see, boys," she said, and Ed snarled at her as both brothers crouched into a fighting stance, Al pushing Tamaki behind him.

"Wait, what's going on?" Tamaki exclaimed. He glanced around Al to look at Lust. "Who is _she_?"

"_That_ is a homunculus," Ed informed him, and Tamaki let out a little gasp.

"Now, now, let's not fight," the other woman said, stepping in-between the brothers and Lust.

"Who are you?" Alphonse questioned, and Medusa grinned at him.

"My name is Medusa. I'm Crona's mother."

The boys' mouths fell open in shock.

"_You're_ . . . his mother?" Tamaki managed to say after a few seconds. Medusa nodded. Tamaki frowned and walked in front of Alphonse.

"What are you _doing,_ you idiot?" Ed exclaimed as Al grabbed the tall blonde's arm in an effort to keep him in place. Tamaki just continued to glare at Medusa.

"So _you're_ the one who's been mistreating that poor child?" he asked, and Medusa frowned slightly.

"Whatever do you mean?" she said innocently, but Tamaki wasn't having any of it.

"Don't try to deny it; I know that Crona acts the way he does because of you! I'm not sure exactly what you've done to him, but whatever it was, it was enough to severely scar him!"

"And how _exactly_ do you know all this?" Medusa questioned, her eyes narrowed. Tamaki kept his mouth shut, not wanting to risk getting Crona into any more trouble. However, this effort was useless, as Medusa nodded in understanding.

"_He_ told you, didn't he? What a bad child . . . I told him not to be making friends with you, and now look what he's done!"

"Why do you hate him so much?" Tamaki yelled suddenly, and everyone looked at him. Ed was surprised to see that his eyes were glistening with tears. "He's your _son!_ You're supposed to _love_ your children, not make them grow up twisted and unable to deal with anything! How could you even _do_ something like that?"

There was a silence for a moment, and then Medusa broke it with a chuckle.

"My, my, you really _are_ the pure soul, aren't you?" she said, and Al pulled Tamaki a step back towards him protectively.

"Medusa, let's stop this chatter and just get to making the stone, alright?" Lust piped up, and all eyes turned to her.

"Yes, I guess you're right," Medusa agreed, and then she and Lust turned back to the boys.

"Edward, Alphonse, we have a proposal for you," Lust said, smiling again. "I'm sure you two know how the philosopher's stone is made, correct? And how the pure soul can be used to create one without having to use hundreds of other souls? Well, we have the pure soul right here with us-" she gestured to Tamaki-"-and we have the transmutation circle over there with all the ingredients needed to create the stone." She gestured behind her to the lines on the floor that the boys had noticed earlier. "Now we just need some alchemists. So, what do you say? Would you like to help us create the philosopher's stone?"

The boys just stared at her in shock; had she really just asked them if they'd help her kill their friend?

"_Hell _no we're not gonna help you!" Ed yelled. He clapped his hands together and ran his left palm over his right arm, creating a makeshift sword out of his auto-mail. "And if you even _touch_ him, you're gonna be in _big_ trouble!"

"Oh, too late," came Medusa's voice from behind them, and Ed and Al whipped around to find her standing next to Tamaki, grinning like mad. The brothers took a step back in surprise, and then they noticed that there was some sort of black-arrow-like thing wrapped around Tamaki's body. It went from his ankles all the way up until it was covering his mouth, so that no matter how much the blonde struggled, he couldn't move or make any noise except for a faint whimper.

"How did you get there so fast?" Al gasped as Ed snarled at Medusa.

"Magic," Medusa replied, winking at them. "I'm a witch!"

And with that she suddenly darted towards the other side of the room, and Tamaki tried to scream as the arrow dragged him across the floor behind her. Ed and Al rushed to help him, but Lust jumped in their path, slashing at them with her long fingernails.

"NO! Tamaki, _run!"_ Ed screamed as he started to battle the homunculus alongside his brother. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it to Tamaki anytime soon; Lust was too much of a handful.

Tamaki looked towards the shout, and his eyes widened as he saw the Elrics swiftly trying to deflect the attacks of the homunculus. He wanted to help them, but Medusa jerked his chin towards her so that he was staring at her face.

"You should be happy!" the witch said, and Tamaki glared at her as hard as he could and once again started struggling with the arrow keeping him in place. "You're going to help create something that could benefit mankind! Not that _I'm_ going to use it that way, but-"

"You mean _we_, Medusa!" Lust called, sparing a glance back at the witch, and Medusa inclined her head.

"Of course, I mean it's not like _we're_ going to use it to benefit mankind. We've been working together this whole time, you know, Lust and I . . . along with Crona."

Tamaki's eyes widened even more and he frantically tried to get free. Medusa laughed and waved a hand over him. The arrow holding him in place disappeared, but before Tamaki had a chance to get up new bands wrapped themselves around his wrists and ankles, chaining him to the floor. When he glanced at his wrists, he realized with a jolt of fear that he was laying right smack in the center of the transmutation circle.

"Now, how about you be a good boy and die quietly, alright?" Medusa asked, leaning over him.

"_No! Let me go! Stop!_" Tamaki cried, trying once again to get free, but he had a feeling deep down that it was hopeless; this was the end for him. Tears started to stream down his face as he thought of all the people he was going to leave behind.

"_Maman!_ Dad! What'll they do when I'm gone? What will the _Host Club_ do without me? Kyoya, Mori, Honey, the twins . . . Haruhi! What's going to happen to them? And Crona! He's so lost and alone; he needs a friend! I can't just _leave_ him! I-"

"Oh, will you _shut up?"_ Medusa exclaimed, slapping Tamaki across the face. "I'm tired of your blubbering! You're about to _die_, and all you can think of is other people? What a stupid child you are!"

"TAMAKI!" Ed shouted from across the room as he saw Medusa raise her hand over the Host King's chest, but his voice was lost in the noise of the wall shattering behind him as Lust risked another slash at his face.

"Now, say goodbye!" Medusa cackled, and a black mist shrouded her hand. She brought it down on Tamaki's chest and Tamaki screamed as the blow hit him.

Desperately, he tried to escape, but it was all in vain. As jolts of the most intense pain he'd ever experienced ran through his body, he tried one last time to make peace with the world he was leaving behind. After a moment, his eyes closed and he was still. An orb with a soft, blue glow floated up out of his chest and hovered a few inches above him; the pure soul, finally free of the body it had been imprisoned in for seventeen years.

And just like that, Tamaki, the kind boy with the violet eyes, was dead.

* * *

Crona was still cowering outside the room when he heard his name being called. He lifted his head up but made no move to get to his feet; the sounds of fighting were ringing through his head, along with what he'd been sure were Tamaki's agonized screams.

_I guess he's finally gone now,_ Crona thought as Ragnarok appeared and started tugging on his hair. Numbly, he managed to get to his feet and grasp the doorknob; Lady Medusa had another task for him to complete, and he didn't want to make her wait any longer.

He turned the knob and stepped inside the room.

Crona entered the room to find chaos awaiting him. He saw Ed involved in a fierce battle with Medusa, the two of them shooting either bolts of magic or shards of rock at each other whenever they found an opening. Meanwhile, Al was trying to avoid Lust, who had apparently knocked his head off and was trying to prevent Al from getting it back. Crona jumped out of the way when Ed suddenly came flying towards him, knocked back from the force of a blow from Medusa.

"U-um, Ed . . .?" Crona said questioningly, looking at Ed warily when he didn't move for a few seconds. The blonde shook his head and looked around for the voice, but when he realized that Crona was standing over him, his eyes filled with fire.

"You _bastard!"_ Ed screeched, jumping up and grabbing Crona by the shoulders. He started to shake Crona violently. "How could you? We trusted you, and you betrayed us, and now Tamaki's _dead!_ _He's dead, you damn traitor!" _

Ed let go of Crona's shoulders and started weakly punching him in the chest, silent tears falling down his cheeks. Crona was horrified; he had never imagined that the ever-resilient and cocky Ed would actually _cry,_ let alone because of something he, Crona, had done. Crona had known from the start that someone was going to be killed, and it hadn't bothered him in the least; after all, he'd killed a countless amount of people before with the hopes of strengthening Ragnarok.

So why was it that it hurt so much to see Ed in tears?

Suddenly, Ed was wrenched away from him, and Crona saw Medusa throw the blonde against the wall. The witch turned to Crona and he cowered before her gaze.

"Crona, don't just stand around!" Medusa commanded, grabbing his arm and thrusting him away from the door. "Go and activate the transmutation circle!"

Without waiting to see if Crona was going or not, Medusa turned to Edward, who was hauling himself up off the floor. Ed spit out a bit of blood and wiped his mouth off on his sleeve, his eyes once again determined.

Crona wavered, wanting to see what was going to happen to him, when Ragnarok tugged on his hair again, more violently than before.

"What are you waiting for, idiot?" the Demon Sword yelled, pulling Crona's cheeks. "Hurry up and finish making the stone! The pure soul is over there!"

Ragnarok tugged Crona's head in the direction he was pointing, and that's when Crona finally noticed the shimmering circle drawn on the floor. He ran over to it, dodging Alphonse as the boy was knocked over by Lust. Al called out to him desperately, and though the voice tugged on Crona's heart, Crona didn't stop.

When he finally made it over to the circle he paused. He looked over the shimmering rim of writing and nearly gagged when he saw Tamaki laying there, the blonde's face frozen in an expression of agony. Crona staggered back and fell to his knees, clutching his chest and feeling as if he were about to throw up. He didn't know why Tamaki's body just lying there was having such a profound effect on him.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Ragnarok exclaimed, pulling Crona's hair. "The pure soul is _right there!_"

Crona looked up and saw the orb that was Tamaki's soul hovering over Tamaki's body, glowing with a strange yet unnaturally calming blue light. Crona stood up warily, hoping that he wasn't going to get sick again, and stood over Tamaki's body, getting as close as he could without stepping inside the shimmering circle.

As he tried to recall the incantation Medusa had taught him, Crona stared down at Tamaki's frozen face. Suddenly, he gripped his head and sunk to his knees again as all the memories he had of the Host King made their way to the surface of his mind.

"Stop! It's too much! I don't know how to deal with it!" Crona cried as random memories played back in his mind at the same time; the first time he'd met Tamaki; the first meeting at the Host Club; the visit to Tamaki's house when he'd realized he could do alchemy. . .

All of a sudden, all of the flashes converged together into one specific day:

_Crona had been at Tamaki's house, crying after seeing a picture of Tamaki's mother and being reminded of how little Medusa cared about him. It was his first time letting out his emotions like this, but Tamaki had known exactly what to say:_

"_Crona, look at me," the blonde had said, gripping Crona's shoulders. "Listen to me: no matter what you've gone through in the past, or what you're going through now, I want you to know that I'll be there for you no matter what from here on out."_

_At that time, Crona had had a hard time believing what Tamaki was telling him. He had disagreed with the blonde, but Tamaki had refused to back down until he had said what he needed to._

"_B-but . . . but _why?"

"_Because you're my friend, _mon ami,_" Tamaki said, smiling. "Aren't you?"_

_Crona had answered tentatively:_

"_Well . . . yes, I-I guess so . . . But . . . _ _no one's ever been friendly to me before . . . I scare everyone away, so no one likes me . . ."_

"_That's not true!" Tamaki exclaimed, surprised. "_I_ don't think you're scary at all, and I like you a lot!"_

"_But . . . I'm so strange, no one understands me . . . there's things about me that if you knew about, you'd run away screaming."_

"_No, I wouldn't." Tamaki took Crona's hands in his and gazed firmly into his eyes. "Everyone has something they don't want people to know about. But just because you don't want people to know about it doesn't make it scary or weird or anything."_

"_But-"_

"_Crona listen to me. No matter what secret you have that you don't want to tell me, I'll always be there for you. You are a dear friend to me, and I always take care of my friends. If there's one thing in your life you can be sure of, it's that fact."_

_Suddenly, Tamaki gripped Crona in another hug. Surprisingly Crona hadn't resisted that time._

"_Y-you . . . you really care about me?" Crona said, tears starting to gather again, though he wasn't sure why._

"_Yes, I do," Tamaki said into his shoulder. "Even if no one ever has before, I want you to know that I _do_ care about you."_

_He released Crona and smiled, his eyes full of sincerity, and Crona felt the corners of his mouth being tugged upwards as well . . ._

_That was the first day in Crona could remember that he had shown anyone his true smile._

_It had been a wonderful feeling._

The memory faded out and Crona shook his head, remembering where he was. During that time all those days ago, he hadn't really given Tamaki's words much thought. But now, as he stood up again and gazed down at Tamaki's lifeless body, he felt hot tears streaming down his cheeks.

There was someone in this world that really, truly cared about him. Someone who valued him as a person, not just another pawn in their plan, or someone to beat up and abuse.

And now, that person was dead.

And it was all Crona's fault.

"No, I _won't_ let this happen," Crona muttered. He clenched his fists. "I _won't_ have the one person who cared about me taken away! I won't! I won't! I WON'T!"

Time itself seemed to freeze at the sound of Crona's shout. Medusa and Ed paused as they were about to shoot another blast at each other, and Al and Lust had stopped their scuffle. Crona slowly turned around to face everyone.

"I'm not going to suffer anymore!" he said forcefully, his voice not wavering for once.

"Crona, what are you doing?" Medusa said, her eyes blazing with anger. Crona stared straight into them, not even flinching.

"My whole existence has been nothing but a pawn in your plan to spread madness," Crona told her. "I'm _sick_ of it! You never loved me, I know that! And because of you I've grown up twisted and frightened! Well, that's _not_ going to happen anymore!"

"Uh, Crona, did the black blood get to you again?" Ragnarok said, tapping him on the head. Crona grabbed his hand and tugged it forcefully. "Ow! Hey, that hurt!"

"Now you know how it feels!" Crona spat angrily. Tears were once again starting to gather at the corners of his eyes. He looked determinately at the Elric brothers. "Ed, Al, please help me this one last time; I need you to cover for me. And this isn't for me, it's for Tamaki."

"And just what are _you_ going to do?" Medusa sneered, still not quite believing that her shy, introverted son was suddenly rebelling against her.

"I'm going to bring Tamaki back!"

And with that, Crona turned and jumped into the circle. Medusa hissed and started to go after him, but Ed held her back. Alphonse did the same with Lust as Crona grabbed a shard of broken glass lying on the floor and drew it across his palm, making a line of black blood appear across it. He quickly recalled the mark on Al's armor and proceeded to draw it onto Tamaki's forehead, knowing that to actually put Tamaki's soul back into his body, he would have to do the same thing Ed had done for his brother.

Crona clapped his hands and, despite Ragnarok's protests, placed them on Tamaki's chest, crying out:

"Please, bring him back! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Just please bring him back!"

There was a flash of light, and Crona cried out and closed his eyes as he was hit with some unseen force. Then, suddenly, there was absolute silence.

Crona opened his eyes to find himself surrounded in a white room. Everything and everyone who had been in the dungeon had disappeared; even Ragnarok seemed to be missing. Crona turned around when he heard a faint creaking noise, like a door being opened. He saw an enormous black gate, slowly opening to reveal nothing but darkness. However, when the door was fully opened, Crona saw a huge, monochrome eye staring back at him.

He took a deep breath and stepped through the door, knowing that somewhere inside was Tamaki's _real_ soul, the unseen, intangible thing that every human possesses. As soon as his foot left the threshold of the doorway, Crona felt hands tugging him in all different directions. He tried to walk forwards, but the hands were pulling him down, and he started to panic.

"I just want Tamaki's soul! Give it back, and then I'll leave! Please!" he cried out. Whatever was pulling him was now giggling softly, and the noise became louder and louder as Crona sunk lower and lower.

"No! Stop!" he yelled, but the things refused to let go. The noise was deafening, and just when Crona couldn't take it anymore . . . it stopped, and a second later was replaced with the sounds of battle. The things tugging him down had disappeared, and Crona felt himself lying on something cold, hard, and flat.

He opened his eyes and realized that he was back in the dungeon, lying on the floor. He immediately sat up, noticing that the glow around the transmutation circle had disappeared. He quickly looked at Tamaki, but he didn't see the soul hovering over the body.

Crona feared the worst, but then, ever so slowly, Tamaki opened his eyes. Crona laughed with relief; his plan had worked! Tamaki was back!

Suddenly, Crona's laughter turned into a cry of pain. His whole body felt like it was on fire, and he noticed blood seeping out of his back and his chest, much like it did when Ragnarok came out; only this time, it wasn't stopping, and it wasn't forming into the Demon Sword either.

"Wha . . . what's going on?" Tamaki said wearily, sitting up and holding his head. "What happened?" He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. After a few seconds, he noticed someone yelling and crying in pain from somewhere to his left. He turned towards the sound and screamed.

"_OH MY GOD, CRONA!"_

Tamaki realized that the screams of agony he was hearing were coming from Crona, who was writhing on the floor in a pool of black blood. Tamaki quickly crouched over him, starting to panic.

"Oh my god, Crona, what happened to you? Is that _your _blood? Oh, we have to get the bleeding stopped! Where's a towel? Uh-"

"T-Tamaki," Crona said weakly, and Tamaki realized that he had stopped crying. Crona looked up at him, and smiled for a split-second, before coughing up a startling amount of black blood. After the coughing fit ended, Crona spoke again.

"It's okay. I know I'm not going to make it. But . . . I'm just glad you're back." He paused for another coughing fit, and Tamaki's eyes started to water. Using what little strength he had left, Crona brought his hand up to touch Tamaki's cheek.

"Thanks for being my friend." And with that, his hand dropped to the floor.

"No! Crona, don't go! _NO!"_ Tamaki screamed, but it was too late.

Crona just had time to hear Tamaki's sob of anguish, before the world went black.

* * *

**A/N: Only a few more chapters to go! Look for the next one in a week! And while you're waiting, please review!**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well, this is the penultimate chapter! Technically, this is the last _official_ chapter, since all I have left is an epilogue, but . . . anyway, thank you all for reading this story right up to the end! Enjoy Chapter 13!**

**Disclaimer: . . . Do I even need to do this anymore? I still don't own anything . . .**

**Chapter 13**

Crona felt like he was floating in darkness. He didn't know how long he'd been in this place, but he didn't mind; the blackness was . . . soothing, somehow. After a while, he began to hear some shuffling noises coming from somewhere to his right.

_That's strange,_ he thought, frowning. He'd never heard anything in the darkness before. He also realized that he had his eyes closed, an action which he hadn't remembered doing. Slowly, he opened them and was nearly blinded with white light.

"Ow . . .," he moaned as sudden pain flared to life all over his body. He tried to bring his hand up to his head, but he felt something tugging on his arm. He glanced down and noticed an IV drip connected to his wrist. He then looked around and realized that he was lying on a bed, covered with white sheets, and he was wearing a blue hospital gown.

_Wait . . . I'm in a hospital?_ He thought, confused. _But, then that means . . ._

"I'm . . . alive?" he whispered softly, finding it hard to believe. Surely losing all of his blood would have killed him, right?

"Hey, you're finally awake!" said a familiar voice. Crona gasped and looked around, trying to find Ragnarok, but he couldn't see the Demon Sword coming out of his back, or attached to him anywhere, for that matter.

"Geez, it took you long enough!" the voice said again, and that's when Crona finally noticed the boy standing next to his bed.

The boy had chin-length, striking black hair, which had four lines of white running all the way down to the tips at equal intervals. When the boy tilted his head, Crona noticed that the four lines joined together at the top of the boy's head to form an "X." The boy was wearing all black and had a fair complexion, contrasting greatly with his hair. His eyes were a deep black, just like his hair, and he looked only a few years older than Crona.

"_Ragnarok?" _Crona exclaimed, and the boy rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm Ragnarok, you idiot," he said. He brought up his hand as if he was about to pull Crona's cheek, but then he thought better of it and dropped his hand to his side.

"How did you . . . I mean, why . . . what happened?" Crona asked, not believing that he was actually looking at his weapon in a _human_ form, let alone the fact that Ragnarok wasn't attached to him anymore. Ragnarok just smirked at his Meister's confusion. He leaned in towards Crona, laughing when Crona tried to back away but realized he couldn't.

"Well, when you brought Tamaki back to life- that was an extremely stupid thing to do, by the way-, everything was okay for a few seconds," Ragnarok explained. "Then, all of a sudden, it felt like some huge force was pushing me out of your bloodstream and before I knew it, I was lying in a puddle on the floor. I heard Tamaki screaming, and I realized that it was because he thought you were dead.

"Naturally, I felt pretty useless just lying there on the floor, and then I thought, 'Hey, if I'm out of Crona's body, then maybe I can return to my human form.' So I tried it, and here I am!"

Ragnarok grinned, and Crona could only stare weakly back at him.

"So . . . this is what you look like in human form now," Crona said quietly. He gingerly lifted up his hand as high as he could with the IV attached and lightly tapped Ragnarok's hand where it was resting on the side of the bed, marveling at how different his weapon seemed.

"What, you want me to hold your hand or something?" Ragnarok sneered, snatching Crona's hand in his own and squeezing it roughly. Crona jumped, startled by the sudden movement, and the heart monitor he was attached to started to beep wildly.

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Ragnarok exclaimed, releasing Crona's hand and taking a few hasty steps back. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

Crona frowned, not really believing that. However, after a few minutes of Ragnarok just standing there watching him, Crona realized that Ragnarok actually _wasn't_ going to bully him. In fact, Crona thought he could detect a bit of emotion on the Demon Sword's face that he'd never seen before; Ragnarok looked almost . . . concerned.

"Ragnarok, are you . . . are you actually _worried _about me?" Crona asked, surprised. Ragnarok's face instantly twisted into an annoyed scowl.

"No, of course I'm not worried about _you_," he snarled. "It's just that if something happened to you, then I'd be without a Meister, and then I'd be _useless_."

"What do you mean?" Crona questioned, confused. He was still having a hard time understanding why Ragnarok wasn't beating him up when he was obviously so defenseless- it was the perfect opportunity. He never would have hesitated before, even if Crona was injured.

_But, then again, I've never been hurt _this _badly before,_ Crona thought. _Plus, we've never been separated since we've met each other . . . maybe that affecting him more than he's letting on . . ._

"I'm not able to match soul wavelengths with just _anyone_," Ragnarok admitted, bringing Crona out of his thoughts. He looked at the floor and scratched the back of his head absently. "Actually, even though I was still a little kid when Medusa caught me, I was never able to match soul wavelengths before; you're the first Meister my soul was able to resonate with, and so far, you're also the _only_ one. Not that I've had the chance to _try_ and resonate with other Meisters, but still . . ."

The Demon Sword smiled at sheepishly and then, realizing that he was being almost friendly, quickly shook his head and frowned. He then noticed that Crona's eyes were wide, and the beeping on the heart monitor was increasing slightly.

"L-Lady Medusa?" Crona said shakily. "What happened to her? Is she here? Oh, I'm going to be in so much trouble-"

"Geez, no need to freak out," Ragnarok said quickly. "After your little rebellion she disappeared, along with that Lust woman. No one's seen her since; for all we know, she could've just gone back home."

"So she's not here?"

"No, she's not."

Crona sighed with relief. Then he frowned slightly and looked at Ragnarok questioningly.

"Wait . . . If the black blood got pushed out of my body, then how did I . . . how did I _survive?_" he asked, tying to work out how that was possible. "I mean, you need blood to live, right? And if it was all _gone_ . . ."

"Well, it wasn't _all_ gone," Ragnarok informed him. "There was just enough left for you to make it to the hospital, and then the doctors gave you a blood transfusion." The Demon Sword raised one eyebrow in what looked like disbelief, but Crona thought it seemed more like a form of ridicule. "I'm pretty surprised you made it through, actually. I guess you're not as weak as I thought!"

He laughed, but Crona just ignored him, staring down at the blankets. Thinking about his amazing story of survival had gotten him thinking about _another_ person's brush with death . . .

He suddenly whipped his head up to stare at Ragnarok, his expression distressed.

"How is- _ouch!-_ Tamaki?" he asked, wincing as he tried to sit up.

"He's perfectly fine," Ragnarok said, and Crona could detect a hint of disdain in his voice. "The blonde idiot's probably still standing outside the room as we speak- he hasn't left since you were put here three days ago."

"What? He's here? I have to go see him!" Crona exclaimed, and the heart monitor started to beep rapidly again.

"Will you _calm down?"_ Ragnarok yelled, pushing Crona's shoulders down as the boy tried to sit up again. "You can't even sit up! How the hell do you expect to get up and walk anywhere?"

Crona struggled meekly for a few seconds and then flopped back onto the pillows, already wiped out. Ragnarok carefully released his shoulders, relieved that Crona still had at least enough sense to listen to him.

"Can I see him? I need to talk to him," Crona said, and Ragnarok nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, alright; I'll go get him," Ragnarok said. "But I'll have to leave; then only let one visitor in at a time." He smiled at his Meister mockingly. "Will you be alright without me, wittle baby Cwona?"

"Ow, Ragnarok! Stop!" Crona whined as Ragnarok ruffled his hair, laughing maniacally.

After giving Crona one last pinch on the cheek, Ragnarok sauntered out of the room, still chuckling to himself. Crona tried to rub his cheek, but the IV prevented him from reaching that far. He sighed dejectedly, but he had to admit that he was slightly relieved that Ragnarok was acting more like his old self.

_Not that that's a good thing,_ Crona thought, wincing as the IV tugged at his wrist for what felt like the hundredth time. He closed his eyes and wished the pain would disappear; it was especially strong on his chest and back where Ragnarok had seeped out of his body a few days ago. Gingerly, he felt the bandages wrapped around his torso, whimpering when another flash of pain shot through his body.

"Crona, are you alright?" said a soft, familiar voice. Crona opened his eyes and found Tamaki staring down at him, the blonde's face twisted in worry.

"Tamaki!" Crona exclaimed, smiling with relief that Tamaki was still alive after all his efforts. Tamaki grinned back.

"Hi!" he laughed, glad that Crona seemed okay enough to smile. Suddenly, Crona's expression turned pleading.

"Tamaki, I'm so, so, terribly sorry!" Crona apologized, the anguish at what he'd done obvious in his sad eyes. "I tricked you, and you suffered horribly because of me! I had no idea you were the pure soul, or I'd never have become friends with you! Lady Medusa had this plan all along, and I couldn't do anything to stop her until it was too late! I-"

"Crona, Crona, calm down, it's alright!" Tamaki cut off Crona's rambling, getting concerned as the heart monitor started to beat quicker the more worked up Crona was getting. "I know the whole story; Ragnarok told me. It's okay- I forgive you."

"But . . . you were _killed_ because of me!" Crona exclaimed. He couldn't understand why Tamaki was forgiving him, after everything he'd done. Tamaki merely smiled and placed a hand on Crona's forehead, brushing his pink bangs out of his eyes.

"I was, but you also brought me _back_," Tamaki pointed out. "In my opinion, you've already made amends. Especially when I realized what you've had to go through your whole life; all those horrible experiments . . . No wonder you couldn't say no to Medusa before!"

Crona frowned at Tamaki sympathetic expression, still not quite grasping why it almost seemed as if _Tamaki_ was apologizing for his actions.

"You know about my past?" Crona asked, and Tamaki nodded. "Who told you? Was it Ragnarok?"

"Yeah; eventually I got him to tell me the whole story, though he didn't want to at first. I have to say, that boy is one of the strangest people I've ever met."

"Was he mean to you? I'm sorry- he's never been very nice, to me or anyone else." Crona bit his lip, hoping that Ragnarok hadn't been _too_ horrible to Tamaki.

"Don't apologize; he was fine." Tamaki smiled at Crona, a knowing look in his eyes. "You know, I think he cares about you more than you realize."

"No he doesn't. He hates me. He's always hated me," Crona said, looking down at the blankets covering his legs. He made a move to grip his arm, but was quickly prevented from doing so by the IVs.

"I don't think he hates you," Tamaki said. Crona shook his head adamantly.

"He does. I know it."

"Think about it- if he hates you so much, why did he stick around for three days while you recovered? He was very upset when you were bleeding on the floor, by the way; he looked really scared and kept asking if you were going to survive. I don't know what he'd have done if you hadn't made it through."

"Really?" Crona asked, and Tamaki nodded. According to Tamaki, there seemed to be more depth, and possibly more compassion, to the Demon Sword than Crona realized.

Tamaki watched Crona as he became lost in thought, still amazed that this shy, frightened boy had actually been able to bring him back from the dead. And now that he'd learned the truth about Crona's past, the horrors he'd had to endure though his whole life until just three days ago, Tamaki wanted even more to make sure Crona knew that people cared about him.

Suddenly, Crona gasped and looked at Tamaki, his eyes wide.

"Edward and Alphonse! What happened to them? Are they okay?" Crona asked. Tamaki put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"They're fine, too. They've been waiting in the hospital along with Ragnarok and I. Ed wanted to leave yesterday, but Al convinced him to stay." Tamaki frowned slightly. "Ed is still pretty mad at you, but I've been trying to convince him that this was all Medusa and Lust's plan, not yours. Alphonse believed me, though, once he'd heard your whole story, and he's been really worried about you as well."

"Oh . . ." Crona sighed, knowing that Ed would probably never forgive him. He looked up at Tamaki and then squinted his eyes in confusion.

"What?" Tamaki asked as Crona studied his face intently.

"Where's the blood seal I drew on your forehead?" Crona questioned, just now noticing that it was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, I . . . I'm not actually sure . . . It just sort of disappeared a little while after you were taken to the hospital." Tamaki half-smiled. "Ed and Al were really confused. Once they'd explained how you tied my soul back to my body, they said that the seal was supposed to last until it got washed off, and they didn't know how it could just vanish like mine did. They think maybe it's because I was reunited with my real body and not an inanimate object that the seal disappeared because, to their knowledge, that's never been done successfully before."

"Oh, I . . . I see," Crona said quietly, wondering if that was true. There was a moment of silence, and then Tamaki cleared his throat.

"Um, Crona, I know you probably don't want to talk about this right now, but we need to figure out where you're going to stay after you get released from the hospital," Tamaki said, and Crona stared up at him. "I mean, you don't really have anywhere to go, do you?"

Crona shook his head.

"No . . . the only place I've ever lived is with Lady Medusa."

"You don't have to call her 'Lady Medusa' anymore, you know; she's gone now."

"How can you be sure? What if she comes back for me? Ragnarok said that she disappeared, but how can you be sure? She could be waiting to come and get me!"

"We're not going to let that happen," Tamaki said firmly, placing a hand on Crona's shoulder as the boy started to panic. The look in his eyes was determined. "If she shows up again, we'll make sure she doesn't come anywhere near you. But let's not talk about that now; you need a place to stay, right?"

"Oh, well, I guess I'll be fine on my own," Crona mused, but Tamaki shook his head fervently.

"You're not going out on your own. You're going to stay with me!" Crona frowned at him, confused.

"What?"

"I said you're going to come and live with me! At least until you're old enough to get a place of your own, if that's what you really want." Tamaki grinned at Crona's expression. "Come on, what do you say?"

"B-but . . . what about Ragnarok?" the shy boy wondered. "I'm sure he's not going to let me stay in a nice house while he doesn't get to . . ."

"No worries, he's already accepted the offer," Tamaki informed him. He smiled wryly. "He said that giving you two a place to stay is the _least_ I can do after what I've put you guys through."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry!" Crona apologized, once again hating Ragnarok's behavior. "He's so rude . . . It's not your fault!"

"Crona, I understand, calm down," Tamaki reassured him. "I may have only known Ragnarok for three days, but I get the impression that that's how he is all the time. Am I right?"

"Yes, he's always been like that," Crona agreed. He looked up at Tamaki to find the blonde frowning slightly at him. "What?"

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking . . ." He looked at Crona for another moment, and the he cautiously sat down at the foot of the bed, being mindful of Crona's feet under the covers. "I was just wondering about Ragnarok. I mean, how did you two survive for that long when he was . . ."

"A part of my bloodstream?" Crona finished, and Tamaki nodded. The pink-haired boy sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it . . ."

"That's fine; I'm sorry I brought it up! I know it must be a touchy subject for you."

"It's alright. I'll . . . I'll tell you about it later, okay?"

"Okay, but . . . is it alright if I just ask you one thing? It's about Ragnarok, but it's not about _that_ aspect of him."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Thanks. I was just wondering something; Ragnarok keeps calling himself a 'weapon' and saying that you're his . . ." Tamaki's forehead crinkled as he tried to recall the word. ". . . his 'Meister,' is that right? I'm still not exactly sure what he means by that . . ."

"Oh, I guess you wouldn't understand, would you?" Crona asked, more to himself than to Tamaki. He sighed again, knowing that this explanation might take a little while. "Where we come from, there are basically four types of people: witches, normal humans, Meisters, and Weapons. Weapons are people who look human normally but can transform into some sort of weapon, like a sword or a scythe, for example. The Meisters are the people who actually _wield _the Weapons."

"But . . . what exactly do Weapons and Meisters _do_?" Tamaki asked, still looking confused.

"They hunt down evil souls. Well, they're _supposed _to . . ." Crona trailed off and looked down at the blankets. Tamaki wondered what that meant, but felt that Crona would probably tell him in due time. So, he settled for asking:

"And you're Ragnarok's Meister, then?"

"Yes," Crona nodded.

"What kind of Weapon is he, if you don't mind my asking?"

"He's a Demon Sword."

"A _Demon_ Sword? What-"

"Hey, I'm back!" said Demon Sword announced loudly, coming into the room and stopping by Crona's bed. Tamaki noticed Crona flinch as Ragnarok came near him, as if he was afraid that the Weapon was going to hit him. "What're you guys talking about?"

"Crona was explaining to me what you meant when you said you were his Weapon," Tamaki informed him. Ragnarok turned to Crona and Tamaki was astonished when he started to rub his fists on both sides of Crona's head violently.

"Did this idiot give you a good explanation?" he asked, ignoring Crona's cries of protest. "I mean one you could actually understand?"

"Yes, and I don't think you should be doing that, especially since Crona is laying in a hospital bed _recovering!_" Tamaki said quickly, getting ready to try and pull Ragnarok's hands away if the Weapon didn't do it himself. Ragnarok shot him a glare but reluctantly let go of Crona's head, leaving Crona sniffling slightly.

"Do you wanna see my weapon form? Is that it?" Ragnarok asked as Tamaki continued to stare at him, the blonde's eyes slightly narrowed as he tried to figure out how in the world this normal-looking boy with the black and white hair could turn into a _sword._

"Oh, well, I'm kind of interested now, yes," Tamaki admitted, but then he added: "But I don't want to put Crona through any trouble!"

"Aw, he doesn't have to _do_ anything except try not to drop me on the floor!" Ragnarok told him, and then he turned to his Meister. "Ready?"

"Um, are you sure it'll work?" Crona asked tentatively. "I mean . . . we've never tried it when we were separated before . . ."

"That's because we've never _been_ separated before, idiot!" Ragnarok yelled, lightly cuffing Crona on the head. Tamaki jumped up, already sensing that this was going to happen a lot, but Ragnarok held up his hands.

"Whoa, calm down, I'm not actually gonna _hurt_ him!" the Demon Sword said, but his smirk said otherwise. He then glanced back at Crona. "It'll work, trust me. Now hold out your hand!"

"Okay . . .," Crona said nervously, and he stretched his hand out.

Tamaki watched with avid wonder as Ragnarok seemed to literally dissolve right in front of his eyes. He turned into deep black liquid that floated over to Crona's outstretched hand. Crona reached up into the mass of swirling darkness and grasped something, and when he pulled his hand down Tamaki saw that it was the hilt of a sword, silver with crisscrossing spikes around the bottom of the blade. The liquid then coalesced fully into a gleaming black blade with a line of white running down the exact center. Tamaki thought it was over, when suddenly a red mouth formed towards the base of the blade.

"See? _This_ is what a weapon looks like! _Gupi!"_ the Sword exclaimed as Tamaki stared at it in amazement. Finally, the blonde got over the shock enough to ask:

"Wait, what did you say at the end?"

"Oh, he just says stuff like that sometimes," Crona told him, and Tamaki shifted his gaze from the blade to the boy. He saw that Crona didn't seem any different, except . . . was it his imagination, or did his eyes seem a touch lighter than they normally were? It was almost like that time in the bathroom . . .

Suddenly, Tamaki gasped as the realization struck him.

"Crona . . . did _Ragnarok_ make you go crazy that one time?" he exclaimed, and Crona flinched as the Demon Sword started to laugh.

"Yup, that was me! _Gupipipi!"_

"It's okay," Crona tried to reassure Tamaki as the blonde's eyes widened; he looked like he was ready to rip Ragnarok out of Crona's hands. "That only happens sometimes, and I can control it. Well, Ragnarok can."

"Oh, I . . . I see," Tamaki said, not fully believing this explanation. There was a silence for a moment, and then Ragnarok suddenly dissolved back into liquid and reformed into his human shape.

"Ah, this is much better!" he said, stretching his hands up in the air. "You have _no idea_ how cramped it was before . . ."

Tamaki had no response to this; he was still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Ragnarok had literally been living _inside_ Crona's bloodstream for years, let alone the fact that he'd just turned into a _sword._ It was just too strange . . .

"Oh yeah! I came back in here for a reason!" Ragnarok announced, suddenly remembering. "Ed and Al are waiting to see you, Crona. Should I send them in?"

"Um, sure, okay," Crona reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, then you gotta get out, Blondie," Ragnarok said to Tamaki, jerking his thumb towards the doorway.

"Okay. I'll come back later, Crona," he said as Crona gazed up at him. Crona nodded and Tamaki ran his hand over the shy boy's pink hair reassuringly, happy that his friend was going to be okay.

Crona watched them disappear out of the room, and then the door opened a few seconds later and Ragnarok came back in, Ed and Al trailing along behind him.

"How the hell did it take you _ten minutes_ just to tell him that we were waiting?" Ed was yelling to the Demon Sword.

"Shut up, midget!" Ragnarok snarled, once again stopping next to Crona's bed. Crona was about to say hello, when Ed exploded.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SMALL? I'LL RIP OFF YOUR FEET AND STICK 'EM ON YOUR HEAD!" the alchemist screamed, and his brother put his hands on his shoulders to keep him in place.

"Yeah, right!" Ragnarok laughed, and then he seemed to remember the reason he'd brought the Elrics into the room. "Well, here he is. Try not to make him freak out too much; the doctors said that it's bad for his recovery."

Crona stared at his weapon, shocked that he'd actually said something caring, but then he noticed Ragnarok's mouth curled up in a devilish smirk. The Demon Sword then strolled out of the room, but before he shut the door behind him Crona caught a glimpse of his expression. It was so fleeting that the shy boy wondered if it had been a trick of the light, but he could've sworn that for a moment his Weapon looked genuinely concerned about him.

"Crona, we're glad you're alright!" Al said, bringing Crona's attention back to the two brothers. Al elbowed Ed in the side when the blonde didn't say anything. "Aren't we, Brother?"

"Yeah," Ed muttered, glaring at the ground as if thinking of what to say. Suddenly, he whipped his head up and turned his glare on Crona. "Listen, just because you brought Tamaki back to life doesn't mean that I all of a sudden forgive you! The fact is that you had to bring Tamaki back because _you_ sent him away in the first place! I'm glad you're not dead, but I'm still mad that you betrayed us!"

"I know, Ed, and I'm so, so, sorry!" Crona told him, begging the blonde with his eyes to believe that he was telling the truth. "I don't know what I could ever do to convince you that I truly regret everything I did to you all . . ."

"We both know that," Alphonse said, ignoring Ed's shake of the head. "Brother just has a harder time accepting it than me."

"That's okay." Crona sighed and looked down at his blankets. "I don't really expect you to forgive me anytime soon . . ."

The brothers were silent, and Crona glanced up to find them gazing at him curiously.

"What? What is it? Did I say something?"

"You're not stuttering anymore," Ed commented, and Crona blinked. Now that he thought about it, he'd only stuttered maybe once or twice since waking up in the hospital.

"Oh, yeah, I . . . I guess you're right," he said, smiling slightly. "I guess now that I know everything's going to be okay, I'm not so nervous anymore."

Crona could sense that if Al could smile, he would be grinning. Ed, however, still looked pensive. Eventually, he sighed and held out his hand.

"Okay, okay, I guess I can forgive you, at least a little bit." Crona slowly grasped his hand and shook it, but when he tried to pull away Ed tightened his grip and leaned towards him. "But you listen to me, Crona; if _anything_ else happens, and I find out that it's your fault, I won't go easy on you, you got that?"

"Yes, I understand," Crona said, looking down shamefully. Ed stared at the shy boy for another moment before giving his hand one last warning squeeze and then releasing it.

"Brother . . .," Al said reproachfully, but Crona shook his head.

"It's fine, Alphonse; this is more than I'd hoped would happen."

Ed lifted his gaze to Crona again, and the shy boy smiled. Ed, who wasn't used to seeing any type of smile on Crona's face, was taken aback. Then, ever-so-slowly, his mouth turned up in a slight grin as well.

Just then, the door to the room slammed opened and Ragnarok strode in again, Tamaki practically barking his heels.

"Ragnarok, don't slam the door!" he said, sounding as if he'd just been taking care of a very problematic four year old. Ragnarok just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said, and then he looked at Ed and Al and crossed his arms in front of him. "Sorry to cut your heartwarming visit short, but the nurse says you all have to leave. Now."

"Bye, everyone!" Crona called as the boys started to file out of the room. "Thank you for coming to see me!"

"We'll be back soon!" Tamaki called back, giving Crona his kind smile, and the boy with pink hair couldn't help but smile back.

"See ya later, idiot!" Ragnarok yelled as he started to close the door behind him. Then the door was shut and Crona was alone.

_Everything seems to have worked out,_ he thought, smiling to himself. _Even Ed forgave me a little bit . . . And Ragnarok's being sort of nice; well, nicer than he normally is . . . Yeah, I think everything is finally going to be okay._

And with that he closed his eyes and drifted off the first peaceful sleep he'd had in ten years.

* * *

**A/N: The Epilogue will be up in a week. Review, please! :)**


	15. Epilogue

**A/N: Wow, I can't believe this story has already come to an end! I wanted to thank everyone who read, reviewed, or did both! I really appreciate it! And now, without further ado, here's the epilogue you've all been waiting for! Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Well, after all this time, I still own nothing.**

**Epilogue**

_Three weeks later . . ._

"Welcome back, Crona!" the Hosts chorused as Crona stepped into Music Room 3.

"Oh, uh, thank you," said boy muttered, a little taken aback. The Hosts immediately rushed to crowd around him, all of them smiling.

"We're glad you're back, Crona-chan!" Honey said, grabbing Crona's hand and giving it a kind squeeze, making Crona blink in surprise.

"Mm-hmm," Mori nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, especially after what happened," Haruhi added, and Crona glanced at her. "I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt; I can't believe you actually got _stabbed!"_

"Um, yeah, right," Crona agreed, looking at the ground. He, Tamaki, Ed, and Al had decided that it would be best not to tell anyone else the real story of what had happened; they decided that it would be easier to say that Crona had been stabbed while out walking and thus had to go to the hospital than to try and explain all about the philosopher's stone, Medusa, Lust, and everything else. The truth would remain a secret between the boys for as long as they lived.

"Yeah, good thing I was there to save him!" Ragnarok said loudly, entering the room and walking over to Crona to give him a noogie. That was another part of the lie, devised to explain the sudden appearance of Ragnarok- the Demon Sword was Crona's "cousin," who had come for a visit. The part about being the one to save Crona's life had been added on by Ragnarok himself before the other boys could stop him.

"Ow! Ragnarok, stop that!" Crona whined, trying to push the Demon Sword's hands away.

"Ragnarok, please don't torture him," Tamaki said wearily, coming into the room along with Ed and Al. He sounded like he'd been through this conversation many times before.

"Aw, but it's fun!" Ragnarok said, grinning maliciously, and the rest of the Hosts involuntarily shivered; there was something about Crona's cousin that just didn't seem quite right . . .

"Well, anyway-"

"-we're glad you made it back to the Host Club!" the twins said, grinning, and Crona couldn't help but smile a tiny bit in response.

He was finally out of the hospital and back in school. Now he might actually get a proper education . . . not to mention that he got to once again be with his friends in the Host Club.

His _friends._

After his ordeal, Crona realized that there were _some_ people out there who he could put a little faith in and who wouldn't try to use him for their own selfish needs.

"Where are the girls today?" Ed asked, his forehead crinkling in confusion as he scanned the room and saw no sign of any guests.

"We decided to cancel the Club meeting today; we thought that Crona might need a little time to get reacquainted with school first," Kyoya said. The other Hosts nodded- a little uncertainly, Ed thought, as they were shooting glances at Kyoya as though this sort of generosity was extremely rare.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker in the corner of the room beeped and the voice of the main office secretary filled the room.

"Would Edward and Alphonse Elric please report to the main office as soon as possible," the voice said, and everyone glanced at each other.

"I wonder what that's about," Al said, looking at his brother. Ed shrugged and then smirked.

"Maybe they found us a way home!" he laughed. While the brothers had by no means given up searching for a way back to their realm, they had resigned themselves to the fact that it might be harder to get back than they originally thought; they'd been searching the whole time Crona was in the hospital, but they hadn't gotten any closer.

"We'll go with you," Tamaki offered, peering at Crona, who nodded slightly.

"Alright, but I'm sure it's nothing," Ed said. "They probably want to tell us how bad we're failing math or something . . ."

"See you all in a bit!" Al called over his shoulder, giving the Hosts a wave as he and the other boys started to exit the room.

Crona trailed along at the back, wondering if a certain someone was going to follow him. Sure enough, as soon as he left the room he heard running footsteps behind him. He glanced up when they stopped next to him to find Ragnarok walking beside him.

"Thought I might as well come in case you can't deal with something and I have to drag your useless butt outta there," the Demon Sword said, and Crona merely nodded.

It seemed that Tamaki's observation of Ragnarok had been correct; he did indeed seem to care about Crona more than the pink-haired boy had realized at first. No matter where Crona went, Ragnarok was always at least a few steps behind. Even when Crona had told him that he would be perfectly fine on his own, Ragnarok had refused to believe him and insisted on staying close at hand. It was almost as if he didn't think Crona could deal with being alone . . .

. . . or Ragnarok couldn't deal with being alone _himself._

Crona smiled slightly at the thought; the all-mighty Demon Sword couldn't handle being without his Meister for ten minutes? Who would have thought!

"What're you grinning about?" said Weapon snarled, cuffing Crona across the head and making the boy wince.

"Ouch! Ragnarok!" Crona cried.

"Ragnarok, please, we're almost there," Tamaki said, looking behind him to make sure that Crona was alright; this surely wasn't the worst time that Crona had gotten beaten up by his Weapon. A few days ago Ragnarok decided to slap Crona across the face with the back of his hand, hard, forgetting that Crona now no longer had the black blood to stop any injury and effectively giving his Meister his first genuine nosebleed in years.

"Yes, _mother,_" Ragnarok said mockingly, and Tamaki rolled his eyes. He knew that this was just a part of Ragnarok's personality, but sometimes the sarcastic, biting remarks got a little tiresome after a while.

Just then, the five boys arrived at the main office. As soon as Ed opened the door, a man and a woman who had been sitting in the waiting chairs stood up. The man had short, black hair and dark eyes that were narrowed in what was either anger or some sort of strange sign of relief. He was wearing white gloves with red transmutation circles on the back and a dark blue military uniform with many colored badges over his heart. The woman was wearing a similar outfit, only she had on a skirt instead of pants, and her light blonde hair was clipped up on the back of her head.

"Fullmetal! Alphonse!" the man barked, and Ed and Al's mouths fell open in shock.

"_Colonel Mustang?"_ the brothers exclaimed at the same time. "And Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"Of course it's us! Who else did you think it would be?" Colonel Mustang said brashly. "But more importantly, _where the hell have you been for the past month and a half?"_

"I should be asking _you_ the same question!" Ed spat back, glaring at Mustang.

"Um, excuse me?" Tamaki piped up, and all eyes turned to him. "I don't want to spoil your . . . _reunion,_ but who are they?"

"I'm Colonel Roy Mustang and that's Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye," Mustang informed him, while Riza gave him a quick salute.

"Mustang's my commander in the military, remember me telling you?" Ed said, and Tamaki, Crona, and Ragnarok's eyes widened.

"Oh, _he's_ Mustang?" Ragnarok questioned, looking at the Colonel. "He doesn't _seem_ like a huge jerk-wad . . ."

"What was that?" Mustang exclaimed, and Ragnarok pointed to Ed, smiling innocently.

"Hey, _he _said it, not me."

"Damn it, Fullmetal, I came all this was to find you-"

"_How_ exactly did you find us?" Al piped up, wanting to stop another argument when he saw his brother get ready to start screaming. "We've been looking for a way home this whole time!"

"Through a broom closet, believe it or not," Hawkeye answered, knowing that the Colonel was likely to just start yelling again. Ed and Al just stared at her.

"But that's how _we_ got here!" Ed exclaimed in frustration. "And we haven't _ever_ been able to get back!" He gripped his head in frustration. "_Damn it,_ Mustang, now _you're_ stuck with us, too!"

"Of course we're not!" the Colonel retaliated. "Do you honestly think we'd be so stupid as to go blindly charging into unknown territory? We tested it first to see if we could get back, and it worked! Multiple times, I might add!"

"Really?" Al asked, and Hawkeye nodded. He turned to his brother, clasping his hands in front of him excitedly. "Brother, that means we can finally go home!"

"Yeah . . .," Ed breathed, grinning as it finally sunk in: they were finally going to get out of this place and back to where they belonged. Then, he caught a flash of the sky-blue color of the school uniform out of the corner of his eye and turned around to face Tamaki, Crona, and Ragnarok.

They were going home . . . but that meant that they were also leaving everyone here behind.

"The Host Club will miss you both," Tamaki said, holding out his hand to Ed. The alchemist grasped it and shook it firmly, and he noticed tears forming in the Host King's eyes.

"Don't worry about us," Ed reassured him. "We're gonna be fine!"

Tamaki nodded, and then he suddenly broke down. He pulled Ed into a crushing hug, lifting the alchemist off the ground a few inches.

"AH! Put me_ down_, Tamaki!" Ed exclaimed, and then he twisted his head to snarl at Mustang when he heard the Colonel chuckling. Reluctantly, Tamaki released Ed and moved on to hug Al. This time, it was _Tamaki_ who was lifted off his feet. Ed glanced at Crona, who held out his hand.

"Geez, now you're even offering your _hand_ to people? I almost don't know how to deal with that!" Ed mocked, smirking, but his eyes said that he was just joking.

"Yeah, I'm a lot better at dealing with people now, I guess," Crona replied, smiling back. Ed then moved on to shake Ragnarok's hand as Crona started to say goodbye to Alphonse.

"Don't be too hard on that kid, alright?" Ed said, glaring at the Weapon warningly, but Ragnarok just smirked at him.

"Sure thing, Shorty."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LITTLE PIPSQUEAK?"

"Come on, Fullmetal, let's go," Colonel Mustang said as the Demon Sword started laughing.

"Let us just stop by the Music Room first to say goodbye to the Host Club," Ed told him as everyone else started to trail along behind as they left the office, Al chatting with the three other boys about what they were going to do once he and Ed were gone.

"We have to get back-" Mustang started to say, but Ed cut him off.

"It's literally right down the hall! Come on, please?" He looked up at Mustang imploringly, and then his mouth twitched up in a devious smile. "You know we'll just go anyway . . ."

"Alright, fine!" Mustang relented. "Just make it quick!"

"Yes, Sir!" Ed said, giving the Colonel a horribly-executed salute. "Come on, Al!"

Ed and Al took off down the hallway and made it to Music Room 3 in a few minutes. They announced that they were going to leave and everyone instantly crowded around to wish them goodbye, effectively smothering Ed. Once he'd recovered and he and his brother had said their proper (and rather tearful) goodbyes, Ed grabbed his original outfit from the hidden closet in the room and they ran out to meet Mustang and Hawkeye at the broom closet.

"You guys go first; we'll be right behind you," Ed said to the Colonel and the Lieutenant.

"Fine. Just don't take too long, alright, Fullmetal?" Colonel Mustang warned, and Ed waved him away.

"Yeah, yeah, we got it!"

After giving Ed one last disapproving look, Mustang stepped into the closet and closed the door. There was a flash of light, and when Riza opened the door a few seconds later the Colonel was gone.

"I wonder why it started working _now_ . . .," Al said as Riza prepared to go through. She paused and turned back to him.

"When that homunculus, Lust, went through, she somehow opened a portal that we found a few days after we realized she'd been down in Lab 5," she explained. "It's remained open since then."

"Wait- so it's been open _this whole time?"_ Ed exclaimed, and Riza nodded. He slapped a palm to his forehead and groaned. Hawkeye chuckled at him.

"I'll see you two in a few minutes," she said, and then she stepped into the closet and disappeared.

"We'll go in together, okay, Brother?" Al said as Ed opened the door, and his brother nodded.

"Yup." Then he turned towards Tamaki, Crona, and Ragnarok for the last time.

"Well, it's been fun while it lasted!" he said grinning, and everyone smiled back.

"We'll miss you, but maybe if the portal stays open we'll come back to visit sometime!" Al told them.

"Only if you can," Tamaki reminded him. "If not, then it was nice meeting you and having you in the Host Club, not to mention how you helped me a few weeks ago . . ."

"Don't mention it!" Ed said, and then he and Al stepped into the closet. They turned around as they shut the door and gave the other boys one last wave.

"Bye!" all five of them chorused at once.

Then the door shut, there was a flash of light, and Ed and Al were gone.

Tamaki, Crona, and Ragnarok stared at the door for a moment, before Tamaki clapped his hands together and turned towards the Meister and his Weapon.

"Well, no need to stand around moping! I'm sure Ed and Al would've wanted us to get on with our lives, right?" he said, and Crona nodded. "Speaking of getting on . . . I think it's getting _late_. What do you two say we head home?"

"Sounds good to me!" Ragnarok answered. "I'm ready for a nap!"

"Ragnarok, you have to do your homework!" Crona reminded him as they started to follow Tamaki back to the Music Room to say goodnight to the rest of the Hosts.

"_Pfft,_ I'm not doing that crap!" Ragnarok exclaimed.

"But you have to!"

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Ow! Ragnarok!"

"Ragnarok, whatever you're doing, knock it off!" Tamaki commanded from over his shoulder. Ragnarok mumbled something along the lines of "stupid Blondie!" but stopped beating up his Meister, at least for the moment.

The three boys entered the Music Room and said goodbye to the other Hosts, and everyone decided to head out to the front of the school together. Once they had left the building, the Hosts went their separate ways, and Ragnarok and Crona climbed into Tamaki's limo. The ride to Suoh Mansion Number 2 was spent in silence as the boys recalled all the fun times they'd had with the Elric brothers. However, once the limo pulled into the gravel driveway and Crona stepped out into the crisp, flower-scented air of the Mansion gardens, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of pure happiness.

Finally, for the first time in his life, he was where he belonged, with the people who cared about him.

Finally, he was home.

~The End~

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**A/N: Thanks again for reading! I would really appreciate a final review/reaction to this fanfic! ^.^**


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